Ibrahim Yahuza, assistant coach of Nigeria’s Taekwondo national team, has decried funding challenge as the team prepares ahead of the African Taekwondo Championships in Cote d’Ivoire in August.
Yahuza said this on Monday that the team is yet to resume camping as there are no funds to host athletes in camp.
“This is a major concern because we have a roadmap to the Paris 2024 Olympics and African Games in Ghana and we cannot assess these players or prepare them for these competitions without training.
“Competitions like the African Championships is also an avenue to expose the players and see them compete with other athletes from other countries.
“We missed out on the World Championships in Azerbaijan in May due to funds and we hope that we will experience same in August,’’ he said.
Yahuza, however called on individual and corporate bodies to support the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF) in achieving its goals.
“The President of the Federation, Abdullahi Saidu-Baba has been doing so much for the federation and majorly spending his personal money to sponsor events.
“We had two events in May and they were sponsored solely by the president, so he cannot do everything.
“We can only hope that we get support from the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development as well as private sponsors to promote the game,’’ he said.
