Comrade Joseph Eva
The maiden National Skating League scheduled to hold in Abuja has been put off due to the security situation in the city, president of the body, Comrade Joseph Evah has said.
The League was originally scheduled to hold from Thursday November 22 to Sunday November 26, 2018 in the Federal Capital Territory, but Evah told The Guardian yesterday that it had been put off indefinitely.
“The current security situation in Abuja and Kaduna is becoming worrisome, and it won’t be good for us to risk the lives of our athletes. So, we have to postpone the take off of the league pending when the security situation improves in Abuja and Kaduna,” he stated.
Comrade Evah had told journalists in Lagos on Friday that the championship would enable skaters from different clubs and states of the Federation compete among themselves, as well as in keeping to his promise of organising a national League before the end of the year.
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According to him, the League tagged “ Abuja 2018” is also being organised to meet one of the conditions handed our to the Federation by the Ministry of Youth and Sports that the sports must have it’ s presence in almost all the states of the Federation before it would be considered for inclusion at the National Sports Festival.
“We are organising the League in order to give our athletes opportunity to not only showcase their talents, but compete among themselves. You are aware that the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC) has given us full recognition, and one of the conditions given to us by the Sports Ministry for full recognition is that the game must be practiced in almost all the geopolitical zones of the country. That is why we are organising the League and show the Ministry that we have skaters in almost all the states of the Federation,” he stated.
Evah has been singlehandedly bankrolling the sports in the country, and he sponsored some athletes to African championship in Lome, Togo, where they won medals. He assured that all logistics such as transportation, accommodation and feeding would be provided for the athletes any time the league holds, just as he announced that gold medalists will win N100,000, while silver and bronze medalists will go home with N70,000 and N 50,000 respectively.
Source: G Sport
