Delta 2023 Padded Medal Table: Review Committee only barks but doesn't bite
" For sanctity, all the LOC members and the culpable Ministry officials should be named publicly and sanctioned as appropriate"
By Olusola Adebayo
The committee instituted by the Federal Ministry of Sports and Youth Development, FYMYD to investigate and resolve the complaints received over the medals table after the recent National Sports Festival (NSF) in Asaba, Delta state recommended no one for punishment after establishing human errors as the reason for the padded medal table released by the LOC after the competition.
The committee established that the medal-padded medals were occasioned by administrative laxity, inexperience, general delays, non-awareness, and the misapplication of the substantive Festival Rules as the main reason for the flaws in the computed medal table.
Dr. Martin Morgan, a sports analyst, and social critic says it's not enough to lay the blame on administrative lapses among others without naming those behind what he calls ' national embarrassment" as they release the final table.
He posited that the Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Okaro led the committee was given the mandate not to only determine what went wrong with the medals table computation but never to also to make recommendations to avoid future occurrences which naming anyone for punishment will serve as a deterrent for future occurrences, which the committee never did.
This only amounts to a barking dog that never bites as it is against one of the recommendations
" For sanctity, all the LOC members and culpable Ministry officials should be named publicly and sanctioned as appropriate. He begins.
" Then the athletes who collected any money for winning " unknown medals "should make a refund."
" Measures like this from the Ministry of Sports and Youth Development will send strong warning and serve as deterrents against future occurrence starting from the next competition in Ogun State", Morgan said.
The ministry finally released the authentic final medal table after the committee submitted its reports has now been rectified and approved by the ministry.
It also noted that while most states retained their positions on the table, there was a drastic reduction in total medals won as some states lost some medals.
