Budapest 2023 World Championships: Participation at the trial is a prerequisite for selection

World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, billed to hold from August 19 to 27, Nigerian athletes who fail to show up at national trials in Benin risk exclusion from the international sporting event.

The national trials, the preliminaries stage where athletes who would represent the country at the international event are to be selected, is slated for Thursday, July 6 till Friday, July 8.

Secretary General of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Rita Mosindi, told IFIJ that there will be no slot at the World Athletics Championship for any athlete who failed to show up for the national trials.

Mosindi insisted that the AFN will ensure that the selection of athletes for the Championship is done according to the rules.

“AFN has a policy in the selection of athletes for major competitions, including the World Championships. If you don’t come for the national trials, you won’t go to Budapest.”

However, she said only on the condition of ill health can an athlete miss the national trials.

“The only condition for the AFN to consider such athlete for the World Championship is, if he or she tenders a genuine case of ill-health. In that case, our medical team has to be notified and the board has to take a decision on it. For now, no athlete has informed me of his or her absence from the national trials.