Boxers Slam NSC Over Treatment At Lagos Trials

Some amateur boxers, who participated at the just concluded Lagos State phase of the Nigeria Boxing Federation, NBF trials, organised by the National Sports Commission, NSC for the Commonwealth Games holding in India later in the year, have carpeted the NSC for organising  trials because it was engulfed in series of irregularities.

The Lagos State phase of the trials came to  a close last Sunday at the Brai Ayonote Boxing Gym, National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos and some of the amateur boxers, who do not want to be named, said the trials were a sham and urged  the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC and other relevant authorities to wade into it to forestall a recurrence.

Apart from the referees and judges, who were partial, the boxers also decried the kind of meals they were served during the duration of the trials.

A source from the NSC, who also does not want his names in print, disclosed that the sum of N7 million was allegedly disbursed for the trials but asked why the amateur boxers were made to borrow kits from one another.

The impeccable source  said if the said amount had been spent judiciously, the boxers ought not to borrow kits from one  other.

Reacting to the allegations, President of the NBF, Rotimi George-Taylor said there is no iota of truth in the whole allegation, though he admitted that the officiating was relatively poor. He attributed the relatively poor officiating at the trials to fatigue and disclosed that the referees and judges were not enough,  hence the lapses. He promised that the next phase of camping would be better organised.

According to him: “I  also heard something like that from one of the coaches and we had to watch the video of the said bout, where we discovered that there was actually a mistake but that does not mean that the trials were a sham. The trials were not organised by the NBF but the NSC, so we were short of officials, I can assure that the next phase of camping and trials would be done by the NBF because the NSC has given us the go ahead to stage it.”