Some national team wrestlers are worried by the delay by the organisers of the Governor Dickson National Wrestling Classics to hold the fourth edition of the yearly competition scheduled to serve as a trial event ahead of the qualifiers for the World Championship to be held in Budapest, Hungary.
The classic, which usually holds between March and May, was earlier fixed for between June 24 and 30 at the Indoor Sports Hall of the Samson Siasia Sports Complex in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, before it was shifted because of both the Commonwealth Games in Australia and the World Cup in Russia.
The Secretary General of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF), Mohammed Libata had released a press statement announcing the shift in date due to the absence of major stakeholders, who were in Russia for the Mundial.
When The Guardian inquired from the NWF president, Daniel Igali, about the championship after the World Cup, he had disclosed then that organizing the competition depended on the outcome of his meeting with Governor Dickson later this month.
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“I know we were supposed to host the classics between March and May this year, but because of the Commonwealth Games that was held in April and then the World Cup in Russia it could not hold.
“I am even thinking of the month of August if it is possible after my meeting with the governor,” Igali had said last month.
“As it is now, we do not want to rush to announce another date, which we cannot guarantee. A meeting with the governor next month (August) would set the tone for the authentic date. Except that happens I may not be able to give a specific date for the classic.
“I think the best time the classics can now hold should be in September, which will equally give the wrestlers the leverage to prepare well for qualification for the world championship in Hungary later in October,” Igali stated.
However, some of the wrestlers told The Guardian that the classics would afford them the chance to train better and be in good shape to qualify for the world championship in Budapest, Hungary.
Source: G Sport
