NWF Seeks Funding Lifeline As Olympic Qualifiers Cost Over N100m Each

The Nigeria Weightlifting Federation (NWF) has raised concerns over the huge financial burden of Olympic qualification, revealing that it can cost more than N100 million to take just five or six athletes to a single international qualifier.

NWF president, Dr Abdul Ibrahim, disclosed this in Abuja yesterday on the sideline of the ongoing Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC)/Olympic Solidarity Seminar on Good Governance for Presidents of National Sports Federations.

Ibrahim said the cost of meeting the qualification requirements for the Olympic Games had become a major challenge for the federation, with weightlifting athletes required to compete in five compulsory qualifiers.

“For weightlifting, you have to go for five compulsory qualifiers. These qualifiers are not close to each other, ranging from Peru to Thailand and Uzbekistan,” he said.

“You need a lot of money to go for these competitions, so we are preparing ourselves to see how we can achieve this objective.”

According to him, the federation spends more than ₦100 million on a single competition involving between five and six athletes, taking into account air tickets, accommodation, entry fees and other charges for athletes and officials.

“It is more than ₦100 million for five or six athletes,” Ibrahim said.

“The ticket, accommodation, entry fee and other fees all have to be paid. You also have to cater for the athletes and officials. So it is not really cheap.”

The federation chief said the funding challenge was particularly significant because success at major competitions had shown that Nigerian weightlifting possessed athletes capable of competing at the highest level.

He disclosed that some Nigerian lifters currently occupy leading positions in the world rankings, including one ranked second, giving the country a realistic opportunity of challenging for Olympic medals if adequate preparation is sustained.

“When you have athletes who are ranked number two in the world, as we speak today, if you go to the Olympics today, we are sure of a silver medal,” he said.

“We have athletes ranked number three and so forth. With a little bit of hard work, we can get athletes who could be ranked number one.”

Ibrahim said the NWF was therefore seeking stronger partnerships and sponsorship to support its international programme, although he acknowledged that securing long-term corporate backing was difficult amid prevailing economic pressures.

He said the federation was currently working within its available resources while collaborating with the sports authorities to secure sponsorship for some competitions.

“We work within what we have. We work within our limits and try to sacrifice, and we also work with the sports commission,” he said.

The NWF president also attributed the strong performance of Nigerian weightlifters to hard work, quality coaching and teamwork, while expressing optimism that northern states would produce more medal-winning athletes as security and training challenges improve.

He said the federation’s immediate priority was to prepare adequately for the first Olympic qualifier in Qatar and navigate the demanding qualification pathway.

Ibrahim stressed that sustained funding would be crucial if Nigeria was to keep its leading weightlifters competing internationally and maximise its chances of securing Olympic qualification.