Report from the ongoing 7th National Youth Games, taking place in Asaba, Delta State has it that the host state has won the first gold of the tournament.
The gold medal came through Ogodo Goodness who lifted a 4rkg in the 45kg Snatch event.
The news of the victory came in to the camp of Team Delta who are in the midst of prayers session organised by Tony Okowa-led Delta State Sports Commission.
The opening ceremony of the tournament holds Saturday afternoon as the games commences across various centers.
As the 7th National Youth Games gets underway today, Saturday 23 September 2023, brimming in high spirit, Team Lagos are raring to go, ready to surpass the last record of the Games held in Ilorin two years ago.
Expectedly, all finishing torches have been put into the preparation of the athletes in a roadmap meticulously put together by the management of Lagos State Sports Commission led by Executive Chairman, Sola Aiyepeku and Director General, Oluwatoyin Gafaar.
Lagos is represented by 299 athletes and will compete in 33 individual and team sports events.
Meanwhile , one of the officials of the Games, Rev. Martins Osagie Asemota, has faulted the method of screening athletes adopted by the National Screening Committee for the 10-day long youth games.
Rev. Asemota expressed displeasure with the alleged facial screening of the athletes, adding that it is against earlier agreement of the usage of National Identification Number (NIN).
He said that prior to the commencement of this year’s games, it was agreed that screening of athletes would be done through their NIN,but wondered why facial assessment of the athletes was adopted by officials of the National Youths Sports Commission .
He said: “I was there yesterday (Friday), the screening exercise was not okay because the agreement and the law said we should use National Identification Number (NIN) to screen all the athletes,but, we discovered that the NIN was not used,instead they were screening people facially. This is not right because there are some children who are 12 years old but with older facial look.
“There no way one can rule out partiality in the exercise. I protested against the way the screening was being conducted.
“Most of our people were screened out. Not only from Edo, but athletes from other states were also screened out. This is not good.
‘We even have some children who came from UK and America to compete but were screened out initially because of their body sizes,
‘How can you screen out somebody with UK and America passports where their ages are clearly stated. So, I have to make case for the athletes with their passports and they were later considered to participate in the games.
“I believe they should improve on the screening exercise because if you want to get the real age for the youth games, athletes should be screened with NIN”. he advised
