Beach Volleyball champions leave Angola amid gold medal controversy

By Tony Nezianya

The Beach Volleyball champions, who faced threats of being stripped of their gold medal, have since left Luanda, Angola, for home.

The team, which won gold at the 4th African Youth Games in Angola, faced an uncertain future immediately following their victory.

An opposing team (currently unnamed) protested the win, alleging that Nigeria had fielded overaged players.

Consequently, an investigative body was formed to verify the team’s credentials, compelling the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) to submit all relevant documents to the competition organisers.

However, noting the absence of a formal protest, the NOC felt obligated to challenge the investigation.

Standard procedure requires a formal complaint to be filed, after which both the accused and the accusers are subjected to medical tests.
In this case, only Nigeria was targeted for testing without a formal complaint on record.

According to the NOC, the team has already departed for home, having concluded their participation in the competition.

“We suspended cooperation with the medical investigative team as they failed to establish formal grounds for the investigation,” an NOC official stated.

A member of the medical Committee of the Games hinted that Nigeria largely coorperated during the investigation.