Favour Ofili Switches Allegiance to Turkey After Years of Frustration with Nigerian Athletics

In a major development for African athletics, Nigerian sprint sensation Favour Ofili has officially begun the process of switching allegiance to Turkey. According to reports, the 100m and 200m star informed the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of her decision, citing years of neglect and administrative failings by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).

Sources close to the sprinter reveal that Ofili’s decision was not motivated by financial incentives. Instead, it was the culmination of repeated disappointments and missed opportunities caused by the Nigerian athletics authorities. Most recently, despite meeting the 100m qualification standard for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Ofili’s name was omitted from the final list submitted by the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC) and AFN,effectively ruling her out of what would have been her Olympic debut.

This marks the second time Ofili has been denied a chance to compete on the Olympic stage due to administrative mishandling. Back in 2021, she was among 14 Nigerian athletes who were disqualified from competing at the Tokyo Olympics after the AFN and Nigeria’s Anti-Doping Committee (NADC) failed to carry out the necessary testing in time.

Veteran athletics journalist Kayode Raynor reports that Ofili expressed her frustrations directly to the AIU before beginning the transfer process on May 31st. Her decision appears to have been further cemented after the same AFN leadership was re-elected in June, despite mounting criticism over its track record.