Plans by the National Sports Commission (NSC) to strengthen the technical side of the nation’s athletics with Cuban coaches have sparked mixed reactions from Nigerian track and field coaches.

A top official of the NSC told The Guardian that the commission is not comfortable with “noticeable technical lapses” in Nigeria’s track and field, hence its decision to strengthen the Athletics Federation of Nigeria’s (AFN) technical department.

The official, who made his intention known to officials of the AFN during the recently concluded World Athletics Challenge in Budapest, Hungary, said that the NSC wants to improve the nation’s athletics, particularly the jump and hurdles ahead of the 2027 World Championships in Beijing, China, and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, USA.

In fact, over the last few days, allegations have been rife that some indigenous track and field coaches have voiced their concern for the moves, maintaining that bringing in foreign coaches would relegate them to the background.

Additionally, they claim that such an initiative, if allowed, would have a negative impact on their careers, even as they appealed to the NSC to arrange coaching courses and motivate them because without their input, it would be difficult for foreign coaches to solve the problems facing Nigeria’s track and field development.

But the President of the Athletics Coaches Association of Nigeria, Olalekan Adebote, observed that there was nothing wrong with getting help from abroad to reposition Nigerian track and field.

He said: “In such a process, Nigerian coaches must not be neglected. Though I haven’t seen any official announcement concerning the hiring of the Cuban coaches to support our athletes, I welcome the idea,” coach Adebote said.

“We all want the same thing: more medals, new records and a stronger pipeline of athletes. Cuba has a proud record in track and field, and I have no problem learning from that.”

“But I would like us to do this in a slightly different way. Rather than only bringing coaches in to train athletes directly, let us engage Cuban or other experts who are World Athletics lecturers to run Level 2 and Level 3 courses for our coaches.

“One course reaches dozens of coaches, and the knowledge stays in Nigeria long after the lecturers have gone home.”

He added that Nigerian coaches deserve recognition because they are the best in terms of talent discovery, and that should be taken into consideration in whatever the NSC is planning.

On his part, the chairman, NSC Elite Athletes and Podium Performance Board, Yusuf Alli, assured Nigerian coaches that the NSC is not planning to neglect them, but rather it has good incentives lined up.

According to Alli, there is a huge technical void in Nigerian track and field that must be closed, and the NSC is quite determined to do whatever it takes to produce results.

“The NSC is trying to close a yawning technical gap in our track and field; hence, it is looking at home and abroad. Apart from the Cuban coaches, we have also contacted Nigerian-born coaches doing well in the diaspora.

“We shouldn’t forget that in 1996 we had Cuban coaches like George Diaz and Jose Salazar who worked with the federation, and we saw what they did with athletes like Chioma Ajunwa, who won the gold at Atlanta 1996, and also Gloria Alozie, who won the world junior 100m hurdles and later won silver at the 2000 Olympics.

“They also worked with Rosa Collins and many others. The NSC is looking far and wide to solve a technical problem,” Alli, a former African long jump champion, said.