Toriola Seeks Independence For Federations

Former African table tennis champion, Segun Toriola, has called out for autonomy for national sports federations.

In a statement  by  the Nigeria Tennis Federation, the 43-year-old France-based player said sports in Nigeria would grow very fast if federations are run independently,

He said,  “I must say that the idea of ministry of sports holding on to funds for sports has adversely affected the fortunes of Nigerian sports, because most federations have  competitions to attend but they run every time to Abuja to beg for funds. This is why will continue to go down in sports’’.

“I’m aware that every federation gives its  annual budget proposal to the ministry who will In turn present it to the government. But at the end of the day, no federation knows how much it is getting.   This is too bad for our sports because every federation should know what it is  getting so that it  can plan with the money for its  programmes.”

Toriola, who has represented the country at seven Olympic Games, lamented the government had yet to  realise the importance of sports to the development the youths.