Reports: Dalung Accuses Sports Federation Presidents of Corruption

•Dares them to publish foreign grants

Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, yesterday accused the presidents of sports federations of corrupt practices as they have continued to keep behind all the huge grants they receive from outside the country and always demand that government sponsor all their activities.
Apparently reacting to corrupt allegations levelled against him (Dalung) by the sports federations recently, the minister said: “We are very much aware that the sports federations receive grants from international associations which they belong to.
They also receive development grants for the sports which they have refused to account for. Still they rely majorly on federal government grants.
“These grants come in Dollars, Pounds and other international currencies but you will never hear of any federation giving account of such monies. Even when there are interventions to help in the development of athletes, it is still left for government.
“Standing on the pedestal of their wrongdoing, the federations have graduated into whistle blowers, raising allegations against the ministry but they will not consider telling Nigerians the high level neglect of their attitude to the very athletes they owe responsibilities.
“Nigerians have the right to know that international sports federations are intervening through the provision of development funds which nobody including the journalists is aware."
Dalung, who signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nigeria Olympics Fund Committee yesterday in Abuja, urged the organizers of the Fund to desist from following the steps of the sports federations and ensure that they pursue their course diligently and transparently.
“We also know that the federations enter for all championships which may not be of any need for the development of the athletes, but because they have interests they register for such competitions. “Of course they should go if they can finance it, but if they cannot, they should not turn round to mobilize Nigerians against the ministry. We can only sponsor sporting programmes we have in our budget in the year. Nigerians must also know that some of these competitions bring huge monetary benefits to the federations. Now if the government sponsored them to such competitions where they make such huge money, is it not wise that they return and hand over such huge money to the sponsors?
“To the National Olympics Fund, you have rolled out percentages that would be given to different beneficiaries; we will monitor the application of the percentages as they occur. If you apply them very well, you will succeed and remain the pride of Nigerians, I want to urge to pursue this noble goal which you have initiated”, he advised.

Earlier, coordinator of the Nigeria Olympics Fund, Mary Onyali-Omagbemi, noted that the organization would put part of the money it would realize in the training and preparation of athletes for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, adding that it will also invest in the construction of community sports centres to target the grassroots sports development.