Ebewele

Former national decathlon champion Brown Ebewele says his reinstatement into the board of Athletics Federation of Nigeria(AFN) is not a victory for him alone.

Ebewele told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja that the development was a victory for the track and field sport in the country.

“ My re-instatement to the board of AFN is a victory not only for me, but for track and field in this country.

“This is because I have a lot of contributions to make to the track and field sport. I can make contributions that will greatly impact on the development of athletics,’’ he said.

NAN reports that Ebewele, who had emerged as representative of the Coaches and Technical Officials Association on May 22.

However, during the elections for zonal representatives and board officials on June 13 in Abuja, his name was missing on the delegates list.

But he had gone on to challenge this at the elections’ Petitions/Appeals Committee which, while submitting its report on Friday, announced his reinstatement.

The former Edo Commissioner of Sports said the new AFN board was going to look for sponsors and donors to sustain the federation’s development programmes, and revive many other events.

“We’ll pay serious attention to the welfare of the athletes and coaches because it is a very vital thing that we have been missing for a very long time,” he said.

Ebewele said it was worrisome to have situations where athletes representing Nigeria did not get their allowances and had no place to sleep well during championships.

“Athletes have had to struggle to get transportation fare to move to venues of competitions. Also, if they don’t sleep well, you don’t expect them to train well or perform well in competitions.

“If an athlete doesn’t feed well, you can only see him or her emaciating. So, we are going to make sure that athletes train well and back it up with good nutrition and allowances,” he said.

Ebewele also commended the petitions/appeals committee for addressing other issues brought up by the AFN board elections of June 13.

The committee had also cancelled the presidential election, as well as zonal elections in the South-East and North-West zones.

“ The committee addressed my disqualification and that of Rosa Collins, as well as the South-East and North-West zones where they had issues of illegal disqualification.

“For me, I think they did a very thorough job and deserve some commendation,” he added.

NAN reports that the seven-man petitions/appeals committee was headed by Abdulrasaq Salau, the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports.

(NAN)