TAYO Oreweme, Director of Federations and Elite Athletes Department (FEAD) in the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports, says early preparation aided Team Nigeria’s performance at the just-ended Commonwealth Games.

Oreweme said this on Wednesday in Abuja after Team Nigeria’s arrival from the Games at Gold Coast in Australia.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Team Nigeria finished in the ninth position with 24 medals, comprising nine gold, nine silver and six bronze.

“We thank God that we started preparations for the Games early. If we had not started early, it would have been a disaster.

“Competing in the midst of 71 countries and coming ninth in the world and second in Africa is a good outing.

“We pleaded with the Federal Government for us to start the camping of athletes early, permission was granted and we started camping in December and the result is what we have seen today.

“Early preparation and connection with our foreign-based athletes gave us an advantage,” Oreweme said.

She said Nigeria’s performance at Gold Coast looked better than that of the Glasgow Games in Scotland in 2014 because of the number of Team Nigeria athletes who participated.

“In Glasgow, we went with 126 athletes and came back with 11 gold but in Gold Coast, we went with 90 athletes and came back with nine gold.

“So, by the time we do the calculations, we will understand that we have done well,” Oreweme said.

The Sports Ministry official called on corporate bodies and multi-nationals to support sports, adding that there was nowhere in the world that government was funding sports alone.

“It was a different ball game we saw in Gold Coast. Most countries at the Commonwealth Games were either sponsored by banks, airlines and other multi-national companies.

“Government cannot continue to fund sports alone. It is time federations go all out in search of sponsors for their activities,” she said.

Also speaking, Stanley Okebugwu, the ministry’s Deputy Director of FEAD, who was the Manager of Team Nigeria at the Games, said Gold Coast 2018 was a nice outing for Nigeria.

“This is because Nigeria competed cleanly at the Games.’’

He however said there was no truth in some reports that three members of the Nigerian delegation to the Games have been declared missing.

– Apr. 19, 2018 @ 09:30 GMT

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