AFN plans three Golden League Meets before Warri Relays, All Nigeria Open

Determined to ensure that home-based athletes are in top shape before the Warri Relays and Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) Super Grand Prix slated for July 24 and the AFN/CRS All Nigeria Athletics Championships slated for July 30 to August 1 in Calabar, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has lined up three Golden League meets between June and July.

The meets are slated for Rojeny Stadium June 11, Kaduna June 24 and the final leg will hold in Ilorin July 11. AFN President, Solomon Ogba, disclosed that “after three All Comers in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt, the next level of preparation for the home-based athletes would be the three leg Golden League so that they could be in top shape for the international relay and the All Nigeria Championships, which will serve as trial for the Beijing 2015 IAAF World Championships and the 2015 All Africa Games in Congo.’’

Ogba thanked the National Sports Commission (NSC) for supporting AFN in its bid to organize a standard meet for the home-based athletes, just as he urged the senior athletes not to wait for either state associations or the national federation before they invest in their career.

He added: “Athletes all over the world belong to clubs and associations, who take over their training and upkeep.

When they compete in meets and earn money or they win prize money in major games and championships, the clubs take a percentage. That is the standard all over the world, Nigeria cannot be an exception.’’