The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) determined that 10 Nigerian athletes are ineligible to compete in the current Tokyo 2020 Olympics, putting Nigeria’s hopes of competing well at the Games in jeopardy.

The athletes were found ineligible after failing to fulfil the minimum testing criteria set out in Rule 15 of the Anti-Doping Rules for federations in the ‘Category A’ category.

Federations classified as ‘Category A’ are those with the highest doping risk and are considered a danger to the sport’s general integrity.

The AIU, an independent athletic organization responsible for monitoring all problems of integrity, including doping and non-doping cases, published a statement revealing this. The AIU announced that 18 athletes were declared ineligible to compete in the Tokyo Olympics, with Nigeria accounting for the majority of the participants with ten.

The athletes’ identities were not included in the announcement.

Rule 15 states that “an athlete from a ‘Category A’ country must undergo at least three no-notice out-of-competition tests (urine and blood) conducted no less than 3 weeks apart in the 10 months leading up to a major event. Only then do they become eligible to represent their national team at the World Athletics Championships or the Olympic Games.”