Ogun, Lagos and Oyo withdrew their players from the Masters Category of the Scrabble event at the ongoing National Sports Festival over alleged collusion between Bayelsa’s Ben Quickpen and George Ezinore of Edo State in Round 16.
The three teams discontinued their participation in penultimate round 17 after observers raised suspicion over Quickpen’s inability to consolidate on his vantage position during the endgame on Table 1.
With ‘FOOLIAS’ on his rack, he played ‘LOOF’ to form ‘LOD’ and ‘OWE’ and extended his lead by 50 points while Ezinore had ‘QUIMPRL’ on his rack.
Ezinore then, took advantage as he played ‘PRL’ to form PURL and RAX and increased his score to 379 while his opponent had 413 points.
Quickpen left with tiles ‘ESIA’ then dropped ‘A’ on ‘I’ on the board for two points, a move many considered suspicious.
Ezinore played his last set of tiles, ‘QUIM’ to leapfrogged his opponent and win the game with 421 points.
Observers alleged that both players colluded to gain an unfair advantage over other rivals in the chase for top medals.
A claim both players denied.
Despite the uproar generated by the outcome, Nigeria Scrabble Federation President Olobatoke Aka with the Technical Director Curtis John held a brief discussion with parties involved and then signalled for the continuation of the games with Round 17 after expressing doubt for lack of evidence.
This decision however, triggered officials of Ogun, Lagos and Oyo who subsequently withdrew their players from the Masters Category.
They felt the NSF should have taken a firm action and sanction both players accordingly.
Despite the unpleasant situation, the three states including Ogun have however, confirmed their participation in other categories as the Double Event begins today on May 25 at the Remo Stars Complex.
