By Akeem Lawal
NIGERIA duo of Divine Oduduru and Blessing Okagbare have been disqualified from taking part in the men and women’s 200m and 4x100m relays of the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) for breaching of competition rules.
Sportsbiz247.blogspot.com reports that both athletes, who were initially registered to participate in the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m relay in the male and female events, pulled out of the 100m to concentrate on the remaining two.
Their decision however contravenes the IAAF rule which states that any athlete, who withdraws from an event after being confirmed in the final entry list, will have to forfeit subsequent events.
An excerpt of the competition rules states:
At all competitions under Rules 1.1(a), (b), (c) and (f), an athlete shall be excluded from participation in all further events (including) other events in which he is simultaneously participating) in the competition, including relays, in cases where:
(a) a final confirmation was given that the athlete would start in an event but then failed to participate. Note: A fixed time for the final confirmation of participation shall be published in advance.
Nigeria will only have Emmanuel Arowolo in the heat 5 of the men’s 200m which holds on Sunday at the renovated multi-purpose Khalifa International Stadium.
