Lagos – The Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF) on Wednesday said it would soon commence camping for its wrestlers ahead of the African Championships in Alexandria, Egypt.
The NWF’s President, Daniel Igali told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on telephone that they had to commence skeletal preparations in spite of paucity of fund.
He said that full preparations would commence as soon as the National Sports Commission (NSC) release money for the team’s preparations.
“The competition is holding from March 2 to March 7 and it is a prerequisite for the Olympic qualifiers.
“It is a serious competition that we ought to take with total seriousness and Nigeria is not doing so.
“People plan ahead to do well but at the pace we are going we want to end up using the usual Nigerian syndrome, which is the fire brigade approach.
“I am not buying into this idea this time around.
“I want my athletes to be fully prepared and that is why we will commence our camping pending the time NSC comes up with funds,’’ he said.
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Igali stressed that reliance on residual skills was not enough for a wrestler to thrive.
“Yes they train in their various clubs and individually but it goes beyond that. We need to keep them within reach to watch them closely.
“They need tutelage and words of encouragement also. We can’t just call them up a week to tournaments and expect the best from them.
“Yes they will give in all their best but it will be better if camped long before the competition, ”Igali said. (NAN)
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