Monday, June 23, 2025 - After years of dissatisfaction with Nigeria's athletics authorities, Nigerian sprinter, Favour Ofili has formally left Nigeria to play for Turkey.
According to ThisDay, Ofili made the decision when she was
once again denied the opportunity to run in the 100m event at the Paris 2024
Olympics, despite qualifying. Ofili has excellent personal bests of 10.93s in
the 100m and 21.96s in the 200m.
Ofili was one of 13 Nigerian competitors who were
disqualified from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics due to noncompliance with normal
anti-doping regulations by the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC) and the
Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN
Citing long-standing carelessness and poor management by the
AFN, she allegedly started her nationality switch on May 31, 2025, and formally
informed the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of her choice.
The recurring administrative shortcomings of the AFN, which
was re-elected in June 2025 for a further four years despite mounting
criticism, are said to have been the direct cause of Ofili's decision rather
than its financial motivation.
Ofili, who had finished sixth in the 200-meter final at the
Olympics in Paris, stated unequivocally that she is just looking for a nation
that will value and not waste her potential
The recurring administrative shortcomings of the AFN, which
was re-elected in June 2025 for a further four years despite mounting
criticism, are said to have been the direct cause of Ofili's decision rather
than its financial motivation.
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