There are strong indications that Sprinter Favour Ofili may have made up her mind to turn her back against Nigerian athletics and embrace the Turkish federation.
This means that starting from the Olympics 2028, Ofili would be eligible to be represent Turkey.
Since the Paris 2024 Olympics, where the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) failed to list her for the 100m event, Ofili has not hidden her plans to part ways with her country of birth.
According to reports, Ofili, a former distinguished junior athlete has already filed an
application to switch allegiance to Turkey as of May 31, 2025, notifying the
Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of her intentions.
Ofili listed that she has been frustrated in her athletics career by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), recalling her disqualification, alongside 12 other athletes, from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics due to Nigeria’s non-compliance with doping regulations.
She also complained about her omission from the women’s 100m event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games by Nigerian officials.
The AFN was mute on the development yesterday, but Ofili’s decision has elicited debates on the quality of people ruling Nigerian athletics. As of today, Ofili is still listed as a Nigerian by the World Athletics ahead of next month’s World Championships.
The 22-year-old is one of Nigerian athletes that have qualified for the World Championships, which will be held from September 13 to 21 in Tokyo.
Ofili holds the national 200m women’s record with 21.96secs and personal best of 10.78secs, performances she did in 2022. She also holds the 150m world record.
She is not the first high profile Nigerian athlete that would jump ship. Francis Obikwelu and Glory Alozie put down their Nigeria jerseys and picked up those of Portugal and Spain respectively in the prime of their careers.
Others are Florence Ekpo-Umoh (Germany), Salwa Eid Naser (Bahrain), Femi Ogunode (Qatar).
Ofili’s decision is not only about the bad treatment that she has received from Nigeria. There are reports that Turkey is recruiting top athletes ahead of the 2028 Olympics, with each new recruit promised $500,000 for representing the country.
