BREAKING: 10 Nigerian Athletes Banned From Tokyo 2020 Olympics

BREAKING: 10 Nigerian Athletes Banned From Tokyo 2020 Olympics

The Athletics Integrity Unit has ruled ten Nigerian athletes ineligible to compete in the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Japan (AIU).

Taking away the country’s chances of winning more medals at the competition.

iexclusive News Nigeria reports that the athletes were claimed to have failed to meet the minimal testing standards under Rule 15 of the Anti-Doping Rules for ‘Category A’ federations.

The federations classified as ‘Category A’ are those with the highest doping risk and are deemed a threat to the sport’s general integrity.

This was announced in a press statement by the independent Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), which is responsible for all matters of integrity, including doping and non-doping cases.

Nigeria has ten competitors on the list of 18 athletes that have been found ineligible to compete in the Tokyo Olympics, according to the AIU.

“An athlete from a ‘Category A’ country must undertake at least three no-notice out-of-competition tests (urine and blood) conducted not more than 3 weeks apart in the 10 months before a major event,” according to Rule 15.

Only then will they be eligible to compete for their country at the World Athletics Championships or the Olympic Games..

According to the AIU website, Nigeria, which has no notable doping cases, was placed in Category A at the start of 2020 due to a sustained period of low domestic testing levels.

Chairman of the AIU, David Howman, urged countries to take an active role in the battle against doping.