“Coach Are will be leaving Nigeria to pick up a coaching job in Brazil next week and that will be a setback for our sports,” a source close to the tactician told The Guardian at the National Stadium in Lagos yesterday.
Last year, Coach Feyisetan Are was one of the most celebrated personalities in the country after leading Team Nigeria’s Para-Powerlifting to a glorious outing at Rio Paralympic Games. Nigeria won a total of 12 medals made up of eight gold, two silver and two bronze.
Barely a year after, things seem to be falling apart, as indications have emerged that Coach Are is on his way out of the country for a coaching job in Brazil.
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At the Rio Olympics, Nigeria’s able-bodied athletes returned with just one bronze medal in football to place the country in joint 78th position on the medals table. But the physically challenged athletes came to the rescue a few weeks later, returning from Rio Paralympics with a haul of 12 medals to finish 17th overall on the medals table, the best position by an African nation at the Games. It was also the country’s best gold medal performance at the Paralympics.
The Guardian learnt yesterday that Are has concluded his plans to dump Nigeria for Brazil following what a source described as ‘failed promises’ by the government.
“Coach Are will be leaving Nigeria to pick up a coaching job in Brazil next week and that will be a setback for our sports,” a source close to the tactician told The Guardian at the National Stadium in Lagos yesterday.
On their return from the Rio 2016 Paralympics Games, the Federal Government received the athletes and their officials, but offered no cash reward, unlike the previous administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, who rewarded every member of the London 2012 Paralympics contingent.
Source: G Sport
