NSF Delta 2022: Team Edo continue to impress as Coach equates festival with NPFL
Despite the shenanigans of officiating officials at the ongoing Delta 2022 National Sports Festival Team Edo continued their impressive performance and they are on course for a top three finish.
The team harvested more medals on Wednesday afternoon from various sports including athletics.
In pole vault, Hope Aruya of team Edo Delta athlete to win gold medal.
Team Edo equally racked up gold medals in the 60kg GR men’s category of Wresting and picked Silver in the 55kg GR and a bronze in the 57kg men’s FS.
The team added bronze in the men’s 800m freestyle courtesy of Israel Seleakpobo. Akina Ediseimokunmi added another bronze in women’s 400m Freestyle.
In Cricket, Team Edo defeated Team Delta to get gold in the T20 women’s category.
Meanwhile, athletes and officials daily complain about officiating officials in the festival favouring athletes from a particular state so that the state could win unprecedented number medals in the history of the festival.
A boxing coach who spoke on the condition of anonymity said if what is happening in Delta 2022 repeat itself in future other states will boycott,
“We were in Abuja a few years ago and Edo State recently, the two hosts did not want to win at all cost. What is happening here in terms of robbing athletes to favour a particular state is unprecedented in the history of sports in Nigeria. We wanted to boycott the festival after day two but we reserved the decision because we listened to elders who assured us that what is happening here will never happen again.
“Delta 2022 is just like the Nigeria Premier Football League where the best and better teams are denied opportunity to win the league and mediocre who pay referees are crowned champions. That is why our champions crash out of CAF Champions League in preliminary rounds.
“If this festival is a qualifier for a continental or global championship or games, medalists here will crash out the early rounds. We need to stop this culture of win at all cost or scrap the festival’’
