The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has relisted paralympic sports in the National Sports Festival, scheduled to hold in Delta State from November 28, 2022.
The National Council on Sports had on Wednesday, October 19, 2022, agreed to remove para sports from the 21st NSF.
But in a statement made available to The PUNCH on Monday, the ministry had decided to relist the para sports after consulting with stakeholders.
The statement was signed by the ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Mohammed Manga.
It partly read, “The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, in consultation with Stakeholders in Sports, hereby relists the following Para Sports to the National Sports Festival in Delta State: Para Athletics, Para Table Tennis, Para Powerlifting and Deaf Sports (Athletics and Table Tennis).
“However, the ministry wishes to state that their events will be limited to where Nigeria has competitive advantages.
“This decision was taken in the overall interest of Sports Development in Nigeria, as the National Sports Festival has become the Flagship Games for the discovery, grooming and empowerment of our youth athletes.
“The Ministry condemns the behaviour of some misguided athletes who engaged in unwarranted acts of protests and blackmail without recourse to due process.
“These actions which led to the disturbance of public peace and the good image of Sportsmen and women, especially with the recent public acceptance of the superlative performance of Team Nigeria at the 2022 Commonwealth Games is a breach of our Sports Ethical Code.
“The Ministry wishes to state further that it will apply the rules in dealing with such acts in due course. Athletes must learn to follow the due process laid down for resolving issues.”
