LAGOS – Anthony Idaye, the Secretary, Karate Federation of Nigeria (KFN), on Wednesday identified the lack of fund as a major challenge affecting the development of the sport in the country.
Idaye told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the body was unable to execute most of its 2014 programmes due to lack of fund.
He said that the federation embarked on aggressive sponsorship drive but was faced with delay in response from the corporate bodies contacted.
“The major obstacle we are facing in this sport is finance to carry out events, tournaments and other welfare activities for the athletes. [eap_ad_2] “After drafting our programmes, we approached some individuals and corporate bodies with our proposals, appealing to them to assist us with funds.
“But most of them just collected our proposals but failed to respond, in spite of persistentc follow up,’’ he said.
Idaye said that such a development was responsible for non-participation of the country’s karatakers at the Senior Africa Championships held in Senegal in August.
“We sent proposal early to the higher authorities, met some likely sponsors and they gave us high hopes which prompted us to organise trials and selected athletes for the competition.
“The whole arrangement turned around at the peak of our proposed departure when funds were not forthcoming and this affected the athletes and the federation in general,’’ he said.
Idaye said that the responsibility of developing the sport should not be left alone to the National Sports Commission.
“It must be a collective effort by all,’’ he said.
Idaye called on corporate bodies to give the sport the necessary recognition, support and motivation. (NAN) [eap_ad_3]