Thursday, August 7, 2025 - AFN President confirms Nigerian Sprint Star Favour Ofili's allegiance switches to Turkey, warns more Athletes may follow.
The president of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria,
Tonobok Okowa, has confirmed that Nigerian sprinter Favour Ofili has switched
allegiance to Turkey.
During a press briefing at the 2025 National Athletics
Championship held at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, Mr Okowa confirmed the
switch and sounded a warning that more Athletes may follow to better-funded
foreign programmes.
“I can tell you that most of our elite athletes are already
being approached by other countries to change their nationality and
allegiance,” he said.
“And as we speak, Favour Ofili has been taken by the Turkish
Federation.”
Ofili’s switch comes just months before the 2025 World
Athletics Championships in Tokyo. Although her name still appears under Nigeria
on the World Athletics website, federation insiders say the change is imminent.
Okowa stated that financial incentives are a major reason
driving athletes like Ofili to leave Nigeria.
“The kind of money they put on the table to get her is not
something many athletes would refuse. That is why we are pleading with Nigeria
as a nation and our government to come out and support us, so we don’t keep
losing our athletes,” he said.
Reports indicate that Turkey, which has stepped up its
recruitment of foreign athletes in recent months, offers as much as $500,000 to
top performers willing to make the switch.
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