10 Nigerian athletes have been disqualified from participating in the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
POLITICS NIGERIA learned that the development was announced by the Athletics Integrity Unit via a statement on Tuesday.
This was contained in a statement in a statement from the Athletics Integrity Unit obtained by our correspondent on Wednesday. The Athletics Integrity Unit is an independent body created by World Athletics that manages all integrity issues (both doping and non-doping)
The statement showed that a total of 20 athletes were ineligible.Other countries affected are Belarus, Ethiopa, Kenya, Morocco, and Ukraine. Nigeria had the most ineligible athletes
The athletes were disqualified for not meeting the minimum testing requirements under Rule 15 governing National Anti-Doping Federation.
However, top Nigerian athletes; Blessing Okagbare, Tobi Amusan, Ese Brume, Divine Oduduru, and Chukwuebuka Enekwechi were not affected.
The AIU explains that under the framework of Rule 15 governing National Federation Anti-Doping Obligations, which came into force in January 2019, National Federations are accountable for ensuring appropriate anti-doping measures are in place in their respective jurisdictions.
Among other things, the rule sets out minimum requirements for testing for the national teams of ‘Category A’ federations deemed to have the highest doping risk and considered as a threat to the overall integrity of the sport.
The key requirement in Rule 15 is that an athlete from a ‘Category A’ country must undergo at least three no-notice out-of-competition tests (urine and blood) conducted no less than three weeks apart in the 10 months leading up to a major event.
