Rio: Ministry, federations may soon head for collision-course over funds

Rio de Janeiro – There might be some confusions in the Nigerian camp at the ongoing Rio 2016 Olympic Games over the non-release of funds to athletes and officials. A correspondent covering the event gathered that the Federal Government had already approved funds for the athletes and officials to meet certain obligations. However, a reliable source told NAN there that the budget for each of the federations and the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) had yet to be released by officials of the Federal Ministry of Sports. Some athletes had begun to complain of poor kitting , especially warm clothing, there. They said they would have used part of their funds to buy warm clothing and other necessities now that the weather had suddenly changed, the source said.
“It had been cloudy in the last few days that many had to head off to purchase warm clothing, while those who had come with some had to dust them up. “Why they are refusing to release the funds is defying every logic,” the source said. It was also gathered that the main organising body allocated four vehicles to Team Nigeria. But, one of the ministry officials had refused to pay the organisers so that drivers could be allocated to them, the source said. Also some federations that had some of their equipment to clear had been facing uphill tasks in doing that, the source said. The source said it was bad enough that the funds were not released in good. And if it had been released by now, it was yet to reach those who would be in need of the funds to meet their obligations, it said. The ministry officials, however, refused to talk to newsmen about it, insisting that they had asked for an emergency meeting where the issues would be resolved amicably. The games which officially commenced on Aug. 5, will end on Aug. 21.