The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has responded to sprinter Favour Ofili’s claims of being deliberately omitted from the 100m event at the Paris 2024 Olympics, stating that they are equally surprised by her absence from the list of competitors.
AFN Technical Director Samuel Onikeku affirmed the federation’s position, saying that the sprinter was registered for all the events she qualified for at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
“We registered Ofili for the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay. We don’t know how her name got missing in the 100m. This is our stand as a federation,” Onikeku said.
The controversy began when Ofili, the reigning Nigerian 100m champion, discovered her name was not on the list of 100m competitors. She took to social media to express her frustration, stating, “It is with great regret that I have just been told I will not be competing in the 100 meters at this Olympic Games. I qualified, but those with the AFN and NOC failed to enter me.”
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Ofili’s disappointment is compounded by her recent performances, including a time of 11.06 seconds at the Nigerian Olympics Trials in Benin City, which secured her place among the 56 athletes set to compete in Paris.
The sprinter drew parallels to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she and nine other Nigerian athletes were unable to compete after the federation failed to administer mandatory out-of-competition doping tests.
“Please remember, in the last Olympic Games I was not able to compete because the AFN, NADC, and NOC failed to release funds for athletes to be tested,” Ofili reminded her followers.
The AFN, however, maintained that they submitted Ofili’s name for all three events—100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay—on the final list sent to the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) for the Paris Olympics. The federation is currently unclear on how her name was eventually omitted from the 100m event.
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