Ben Ezechime, Enugu
Ebere Amaraizu, a renowned Sports Administrator has suggested concerted and collaborative efforts to check vices so as to achieve growth, development and excellence in sports in the country.
Amaraizu, who is the Director of Nigeria Nationwide League One (NLO), made the call while speaking to newsmen on Saturday on ways of improving Nigerian athletes’ performance.
According to him, there were many sports vices which have militated against sports excellence, growth and development among athletes in competitions both within and outside the country.
He said, if sports is truly a tool to prevent social vices for a functional and progressive society, then there is that urgent need to work collaboratively towards ensuring that it is cleansed of these vices.
“These vices militating against sports included: age cheats, use of substance or performance enhancement materials also known as doping, gambling/waging by club officials, sports administrators, athletes/players among others.
“Age cheats especially in football have caused more harm than good individually and otherwise.
“Many players/athletes have lost their lives due to age cheating leading to taking them to a favourable grade and resulting to them not meeting up with the age that they claim to be and in most causes overstretching themselves with substance aid.
“As they take substance to enhance their performance; it will eventually lead to bodily harm, death or organ dysfunction.
“Some are also involved in fixing of matches, gambling/waging to make money to the detriments of their club-sides.
“There are stories of some players/athletes who cannot play a single match/sports competition without performance inducement substance,” he said.
Amaraizu said that stakeholders, administrators, government and non-governmental persons, faith-based organisations including various sports federations, Olympic committee must activate various proactive measures aimed at ensuring that these sports vices are nipped in the bud.
This, he said, would lead to sports excellence, growth and development especially as it concerns the world Doping Code 2015 (2018 amendment) with prohibited list as well as on the issue of age falsifications/cheating.
“The recent move by the NLO, the third tier league of Nigeria football, to restore sanity in protection of players from poaching and maintenance of players’ real age through online portal registrations is a welcome development.
“NLO Portal Registration will help to retain the age history of these young players from grassroots and make it to serve as players’ data base platforms and making it difficult for age falsifications.
“Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) should rise up to this challenges of ensuring that sports vices are not only curtailed but curbed in our society for sports excellence, growth and development,” he said.
“Amaraizu, who is also a certified Olympic Sports Administrator, noted that SWAN can achieve this through awareness creation and sports engagement programmes with various key stakeholders in the sports industry on the dangers posed by sports vices.
