ABUJA – Aliyu Mohammed, the Vice-President of Gymnastics Federation of Nigeria (GFN), on Monday said the federation was planning to organise the maiden Mukhtar Yero Open Gymnastics Championship in January.
Mohammed told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the championship would be part of the federation’s efforts to introduce more events for the sport.
“I have tried to see if Gov. Mukhtar Yero of Kaduna State will sponsor a championship, which will be tagged `The First Mukhtar Yero
Open Gymnastics Championship’’, in January.
“I have sent to him a letter and I am expecting his reply. The event will be held in Kaduna before the 2015 general elections, hopefully in January,’’ he said.
The GFN vice-president however said the federation was still expecting funds from the National Sports Commission (NSC) to take care of the necessary logistics to make the championship happen.
He expressed regrets that the federation had not met its target for the year 2014 due to lack of finance.
“Our challenge is lack of sponsorship and government assistance. The government seems to favour a few sports federations and neglect others, and you cannot run a federation without money.
“This is why some federations are progressing while others are not. It is really sad and I am not happy about it. The Minister of Sports, Tammy Danagogo, just have to do something about it.
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“The NSC should assist other sports to develop. All its attention should not be on football only. This is not good for the development of sports in the country,’’ Mohammed said.(NAN)
