Athletes from Niger State in the 2018 National Sports Festival (NSF) have appealed to the state government to release approved funds for their participation at the game.
Malam Ahmed Muktar, captain Wheel Chair Tennis, Special Sports, disclosed this on Tuesday during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna.
The state government had approved N30 million for the athletes to participate in the game scheduled for December 6-17 in Abuja.
The athletes had proposed a budget of N56 million for their logistics at the 12 days tournament.
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“You can see for yourself that we are ready for the games but non-release of the approved money is our problem.
“We have been using our own money to train, the truth of the matter is that we are now exhausted.
“We need funds to put finishing touches to what we have been doing to enable us get good result at the festival,’’ he said.
He said that out of the 120 man contingent representing the state at the festival there are 99 athletes and 21 officials.
Muktar said that late release of funds by government may hamper the state contingent’s participation at the games.
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Similarly, Malam Umar Abdullahi, also a member of the wheel chair tennis team told NAN that they have been training for the NSF.
“I am praying for government to release money for team Niger. I want to assure government that we are not just going there to mark register but to win medals for our state,’’ he said.
NAN reports that the state would participate in 17 events out of 37 that would be competed for at the festival.
They are athletics, handball, boxing, wrestling, judo, taekwondo, weightlifting, powerlifting and traditional wrestling.
Others are langa, squash, tennis, badminton, golf, scrabble, chess and kickboxing.
NAN recalls that the state finished on 13th position in 2012 when the NSF was last hosted in Lagos.