The newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of Elite Athletes Development and Podium Board of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Yusuf Ali, has declared that the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics will be a major test of how much the board’s effectiveness has gone.
  
On Monday, the NSC announced the composition of its Elite Athletes Development and Podium Board, with Yusuf Ali as the CEO. Olympians Mary Onyali, Hauwa Kulu Akinyemi, Bambo Akani and Emmanuel Igbinosa are members.
   
Ali, the immediate past Chairman of Edo State Sports Commission, is best known for his record-breaking jump of 8.27m at the 1989 African Championships held in Lagos. He won three medals at the Championships, and to date, his national record subsists.
 
Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, Ali stated that the 2028 Olympics will be a major test of how much the board’s effectiveness has gone, adding: “And this would have been manifesting in other international sporting engagements by the country before the time.
 
“The major mandate of this board is to attain excellent sporting performance across all sports, which will translate to podium performance or presence in international sporting engagements,” he said.
   
Ali stated that his appointment by the NSC, aside from signalling a sense of national acknowledgement and appreciation for works done over the years in the area of sports growth and development, gives him a sense of challenge to provide the utmost best in not only repositioning the sporting industry in Nigeria for greater heights but also making it a most profitable endeavour for all entrants and players in the industry.
 
“In countries with very sound policy development and implementation strategies, sports is a huge business, and that is the objective of the leadership of the National Sports Commission.
 
“The idea behind the setting up of the Elite sports development and podium performance is not just to positively reposition the Nigeria sporting industry to rank with the very best in the world, but also to make it into what it should be, which is a multi-million naira generating industry both for the nation and for participants in the industry,” he stated.
   
Speaking further, Ali said that the attainment of excellent international sporting performance begins with the proper implementation of sound national sporting policies, which is the major mandate of the leadership of the NSC.
 
“That is one of the main reasons for setting up this board. The great elite performance involves ensuring sound talent identification and development, encouraging the development of up-to-date technical know-how or training amongst coaches by training and re-training and ensuring proper fund allocation in the form of training grants to athletes and coaches as at when due to ensure excellent participation spirit in all sporting engagements.

“This will be the core of the concentration of the board. I am sure it will translate into podium performances in international sporting engagements for the country,” Ali stated.
 
In 2022, former Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, appointed Yusuf Ali as coordinator of Team Nigeria to the Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, England.
 
“Before we left Nigeria, I predicted that we would return home with nothing less than 12 gold medals, and we got it. In sports, you have to set your target and work towards it,” Ali stated.