By; AYO OJEDOKUN, Lagos.
Barely few months after Aruna Quadri’s achievement at the recently concluded Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, the 2014 ITTF Star is yet to get any tangible support from those that have been singing his praises in order for him to be able to feature in as many competitions as possible as part of his preparation for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan.
Quadri who has continued to shoulder his bills to series of competitions before and after the Olympic Games could not hold back his frustration after his early exit from the just concluded ITTF World Cup in Saarbrucken, Germany, saying he has been faced with big challenges in his career and that he is fully ready to face it with more hard work.
According to him, the support he got from the Ministry of Sports before, during and after the Rio Olympic Games is zero. “My training grant was not paid in Rio and all the expenses I incurred in getting ready for the Olympic Games were not paid, even the expenses we spent while been camped in Lagos before the Olympic Games had not been settled in Rio. So the support from the Ministry is zero.
“I can say that I sponsored myself to the World Cup because I got no support from those in charge of sports in Nigeria and for that reason I did not bother myself a lot. I had to offset all my expenses to represent my country at the tournament without the support of my government. It is now I really need support from Nigeria in order to get better in future. Since government is not helping, I really need support from individuals and companies from my home country and if I get sponsors from Nigeria, my results will be better than my previous results” explained Quadri.
He also stated that Nigeria is not worth dying for in sports because support, motivation and encouragement of athletes are not always the administrators and government priority.
