Sports Festival: The Anambra sports chairman warns school managements against age falsification of athletes

Pamela Eboh, Awka

The Chairman, of the Anambra State Sports Development Commission, Mr Patrick-Estate Onyedum, has warned school principals and head teachers participating in the state school sports games to adhere strictly to the rules of the festival including age limits.

He also urged them to avoid creating a bad image for themselves by engaging in dirty pranks.
The sports fiesta which is coming a decade after in the state has entered its final stage after the preliminaries held at the local govt and senatorial levels.

Recall that the festival was grouped into U13 and U17 categories for students between primary five and senior secondary school two respectively.

Onyedum handed out the warning in Awka ahead of the state finals slated between June 21 and June 24 at various centres within the state capital of Awka.

He stressed that the school sports festival was a developmental programme geared towards repositioning Anambra as a sports hub of Nigeria through discovering budding talents for mentorship.

Onyedum enjoined schools that qualified for the finals to ensure their athletes were their students who fit within the age ranges, saying that defaulters would not only be disqualified but the named.

The Chairman commended the participating schools for their cooperation and commitment to the success of the festival since it commenced on May 17, even as he asked them to sustain the tempo till the end.

Onyedum added, “We are set for the state finals due to start by Wednesday, I want to congratulate all the finalists and also encourage them to do their schools, their local government areas and the entire state proud.

“However, I want to remind school principals and headteachers to warn their game masters to adhere to the rules, they should resist the temptations of presenting over-age athletes.

“Any school with a proven case of age cheat will be exposed, this festival is a long-term development programme, so the Sports Commission is discouraging the ‘must win mentality’ exhibited by some schools, that is what is responsible for age cheat.”

According to him, all was set for the final which would take place at GTC and Paul University football pitch, Alex Ekwueme Square, City Sports Club Amawbia, Marble Arch Hotel and Awka Township Stadium.

He called on lovers of sports from across Anambra to go to the venues en-masse and cheer the future champions as they displayed raw and exceptional talents.

He further appreciated Gov. Chukwuma Soludo for approving and supporting the school sports festival which he said had been moribund for more than a decade.