THE technical officials, of the Nigeria Amateur Wrestling Federa-tion (NAWF) exhibited their high level of incompetence in handling doping issues at the recently concluded 15th National Sports Festival tagged Gateway 2006 Games in Abeokuta and this almost marred the game.
Their conduct to doping issues was a revelation to why the country is sanctioned at international events by the international federation. As it is done at international competitions, an athlete to be tested for dope should not be aware of it till the very point it is to be done.
But the, officials of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation ran foul of this by announcing on the loud speakers their intention to test an athletes who have less than two hours to compete in a championship.
The officials of NAWF who were not well informed about the process of doping forcefully wanted to subject a Bayelsa wrestler to a test and thereby incurred the wrath of, , Nigerian born Canadian Olympic and World champion, Daniel Igali, who led the Bayelsa State wrestling team to the festival and supervised the conduct of the officials during the Games., He vehemently frowned at the untoward hardship and humiliation, they subject the wrestlers to.
His words, “as an athlete who has undergone testing for banned stimulants and performance enhancing drugs at least 50 times in my career, I know the process to the tee. I found the mode of tests done on one of my athletes and the manner in which it was done objectionable and I made it known to the Nigeria doping officials. In my view, they were in serious breach of the doping protocols and need to apologize to the athletes who were unfairly treated in my opinion.
“What I found objectionable in Abeokuta was the fact that two athletes who had qualified for the final and were supposed to be competing in about four hours were chosen for a dope test. This is something I have never seen in my eight years on the Canadian national team, neither have I heard such treatment meted out to any other athlete, in any other country, in any kind of, sport.. I am not sure the right information was given to the doping officials, otherwise, I do not see any reason to have athletes tested right before their final”.
He added, ” the idea of doping itself rubs one the wrong way, as it’s akin to one being forced to sleep with a woman he is not attracted to. One finds it difficult, at most times, to provide the required fluids on time., I have been in several situations where I have been in a doping control room for five hours without providing the urine required. I have been in situations where I have drank about three litres of water before providing the needed fluids.
My contention with the doping officials and with the Wrestling federation, was that it is unwise, unfair, and unwarranted to test an athlete who has not fought his final, or who is still in competition being tested. In wrestling, the intake of a lot of fluids, especially forced fluids as the case may be in a doping, scenario, causes a lot of discomfort, both to the urinary system as well as making it increasingly difficult for an athlete to perform at an optimum level.
One’s arms and legs get very tight and weak after sustained wrestling action after the intake of a lot of fluids. Secondly, doping is a quiet affair. Normally the coach is informed, and the coach co-operates with the doping officials to get the athlete to the doping center.
In the case in Abeokuta, the wrestling organisers were announcing the impending doping process over the loudspeakers – it is never done, it is a flagrant abuse of powers. I think it wreaks of incompetence and a gross abuse of process, to start a doping process without consulting the coach responsible for the athlete”
Wrestling Gear
