By Kemi Ajayi
Lagos – Giandomenico Massari, President of the Cycling Federation of Nigeria (CFN), on Wednesday said the federation would in 2018 intensify efforts to popularise the sport in the country.
Massari told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the move was to ensure that more states have their athletes participating in the sport.
He said Lagos, FCT and Rivers are the only states with cycling associations actively involved in the sport, adding that there was the need to get other states involved.
“We have a plan to develop cycling in the coming year and we can only achieve that by getting more states to participate.
“Some of our activities will not be restricted to Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt alone.
“We want cycling to be a popular sport in all the six geo-political zones in the country, as a way of encouraging people in those states,’’ Massari said.
He added that CFN would henceforth go into partnership with schools, most especially universities, to identify budding talents in the sport.
The CFN president pointed out that Nigeria has potential cyclists who could compete favourably with other cyclists in the continent and beyond.
“Developing cycling at the grassroots is one of our major focal points for 2018. We want to take cycling to schools,’’ he said.
Massari, however, appealed to private organisations to support the body in its bid to move the sport forward.
