Directors of Sports from the 35 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have passed a vote of no confidence on the “Special Screening Committee” put in place by the Federal Ministry of Sports Development for the National Youth Games.
 
Ever since the Games began in 2013, the screening of athletes has been characterised by errors, which in some cases, led to unjustifiable disqualification of young athletes, while some “over-aged” ones are given the nod to compete.
 
The ongoing edition has witnessed its fair share of blunders as some athletes, who were earlier screened out were later allowed in through the “back door” by the same officials.
  
Sensing danger, the directors of sports held a meeting inside the VIP Lounge of the Stephen Keshi Stadium, on Sunday evening, where they voiced their anger.
 
A source at the meeting told The Guardian, yesterday, that virtually all the directors kicked against the continuous use of a special screening committee for the National Youth Games.
 
“Everybody at that meeting wants the special screening committee scrapped immediately,” the source said. “It is killing the Games slowly and if care is not taken, the purpose of holding the National Youth Games will be defeated.
 
Speaking further, the source said: “A few days ago, we had a situation where one of a set of twins representing Team Lagos was “rejected” by the committee, while the other one passed the screening. The National Youth Games is meant for athletes below the age of 15 years.

“We begin to wonder about the yardstick used by the committee in rejecting one of the twins born by the same parents, same day, and same year. The screening committee saw the anger in the eyes of everybody and decided to reverse its decision on the twins. There are so many other instances, and the directors of sports are now saying enough is enough. We have told the Sports Ministry to scrap the committee and instead, use the National Identification Number (NIN) in screening the athletes,” the official stated.