Nigerian Senate (upper chamber in the National Assembly) Committee on Sports in Abuja on Monday urged President Umaru Yar'Adua not to tamper with the funds appropriated for Nigeria's participation in the Beijing Olympic Games.
The Committee also appealed to the Presidency to release funds for the renovation of stadiums across the country ahead of Nigeria's hosting of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup tagged as "Nigeria 2009".
The Punch newspaper on Wednesday report Heneken Lokpobiri, the Chairman of the Committee, said Nigerians should not blame the country's sports ministry, National Sports Commission (NSC), athletes and officials for poor performance, if the funds were withheld by the executive.
"It will be embarrassing for the authorities to withhold the funds duly appropriated for the games and renovation of our stadium for hosting of the World Cup," he said.
"The President may have been ill-advised, but that will spoil the careers of many athletes and players if we fail to go for the Olympics and lose FIFA hosting rights," he added.
According to him, the Committee has received about 50 memoranda about the public hearing on sports development in Abuja, adding that the hearing was not targeted at the leadership of the NSC and Nigeria Football Association, but to determine problems of sports generally and formulate policies for excellent performance.
Source:Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article