Tokyo 2020: Anugweje leads AFN Medical Commission
Photo: Ken Anugweje, a Professor of Sports Medicine at the University of Port Harcourt.
By George Aluo
The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has taken a swift move to rejig its medical department with the appointment of Prof Ken Anugweje as the chairman of its medical and anti doping commission.
President of AFN Tonobok Okowa who disclosed this today in a release made available to newstap.com.ng said the appointment was made as a proactive step aimed at avoiding a reoccurrence of the situation where 10 Nigerian athletes were barred from competing at the on going Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The AFN release stated in part…”The President of the AFN, Chief Tonobok Okowa has taken proactive steps to avoid future occurrences by appointing Professor Ken Anugweje as the head of the Medical and Anti- Doping Commission of the Federation.”
The athletics federation further stated that Nigeria would still do well in the sport out there in Tokyo despite the 10 athletes disqualification setback.
“The AFN bears responsibility for any lapses that may have occurred during the process and reassures Nigerians that our performances will not be negatively impacted.”
Below is the AFN press release made available to newstap.com.ng by the media Department of the sports federation.
RE: ATHLETICS INTEGRITY UNIT DECISION,
AFN ASSURES NIGERIANS ON ATHLETES’ PERFORMANCE
-appoints new head of Medical Commission
1. The Athletics Federation of Nigeria has put in place appropriate measures to comply with Rule 15 of the Anti-Doping Rules of World Athletics.
2. All our athletes resident in Nigeria and who qualified for the Olympic Games completed the three mandatory tests. Most of our top athletes resident in the USA also completed their tests. However,a few athletes in the American collegiate system were tested, but those tests were deemed not to have complied with WADA sample collection and analysis standards. It must be noted that no Nigerian athlete tested positive to prohibited substances.
Also to note is that 12 top Nigerian athletes have been cleared and are eligible for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
3. The AFN bears responsibility for any lapses that may have occurred during the process and reassures Nigerians that our performances will not be negatively impacted.
4. The President of the AFN, Chief Tonobok Okowa has taken proactive steps to avoid future occurrences by appointing Professor Ken Anugweje as the head of the Medical and Anti- Doping Commission of the Federation.
