The board of Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) is running from pillar to post, looking for solutions on the age falsification saga following a January 16, 2026 deadline from World Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).
On December 2, 2025, the World Athletics age regulatory body queried the AFN on why 16 out of 17 athletes entered for the 2025 African U18 & U20 Championship in Abeokuta appeared with multipleand conflicting dates of birth. The query from AIU did not go down well with the National Sports Commission (NSC), which vowed to punish any official found culpable.
It was learnt on Friday that some top officials of the AFN are now having sleepless night on how to ‘escape’ the wrath of both the NSC and the AIU.
A source close to the AFN board revealed to The Guardian that the federation has not been able to find ‘concrete answer’ to convince the AIU on why the affected athletes entered for the 2025 African U18 & U20 Championship with multiple and conflicting dates of birth.
“As we speak, the AFN board is yet to find a concrete excuse to convince AIU on the query,” the source said.
“And they are running from pillar to post looking for solution. Time is not on their side.”
The AIU had warned that if the AFN fails to provide concrete evidence, it will instigate full scale investigations on the age discrepancies.
One stakeholder said the AFN must provide verifiable age confirming documents, including birth certificates, passports, school records, or medical files, to establish the athletes’ true ages.
“Failure to do so will trigger a full AIU investigation into possible age manipulation, a serious violation of the Integrity Code of Conduct and World Athletics technical regulations.”
The NSC insisted on thorough accountability from the AFN after the story broke, with the Chairman, Mallam Shehu Dikko, expressing his displeasure with the AFN saying that heads will roll if anybody is found culpable.
“At a time we are giving no place to age cheat in our sports, this will not be swept under the carpet, I can assure Nigerians. We are determined to get it right from our age grade competitions,” Dikko stated then.
The Director General of the NSC, Bukola Olopade, also said then, that the AFN must put its house in order and display true competence and diligence to restore confidence and prevent international embarrassment.
Former President of the AFN, Olamide George, told The Guardian from his base in the United States of America that the issue of age falsification under the present AFN leadership has long been a
troubling shadow over the federation’s integrity.
“The AIU’s introduction of stricter sanctions could represent a turning point in addressing this long-standing challenge,” George said. “For every cheat, there must be a penalty. After thorough investigation by AIU, it could decide to suspend the affected athletes, ban officials implicated in the fraud, and penalise the federation, to deliver justice while signalling a commitment to reform.”
It would be recalled that the AFN set up a committee to investigate the incident last year.
