Age Falsification: panic in AFN as AIU January 16 deadline approaches<\/p>\n
The board of Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) is running from pillar to post, looking for solutions on the age falsification saga following a January 16, 2026 deadline from World Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).<\/p>\n
On December 2, 2025, the World Athletics age regulatory body queried the AFN on why 16 out of 17 athletes entered for the 2025 African U18 & U20 Championship in Abeokuta appeared with multipleand conflicting dates of birth. The query from AIU did not go down well with the National Sports Commission (NSC), which vowed to punish any official found culpable.<\/p>\n
It was learnt on Friday that some top officials of the AFN are now having sleepless night on how to \u2018escape\u2019 the wrath of both the NSC and the AIU.<\/p>\n
A source close to the AFN board revealed to The Guardian that the federation has not been able to find \u2018concrete answer\u2019 to convince the AIU on why the affected athletes entered for the 2025 African U18 & U20 Championship with multiple and conflicting dates of birth.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we speak, the AFN board is yet to find a concrete excuse to convince AIU on the query,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n
And they are running from pillar to post looking for solution. Time is not on their side.\u201d<\/p>\n
The AIU had warned that if the AFN fails to provide concrete evidence, it will instigate full scale investigations on the age discrepancies.<\/p>\n
One stakeholder said the AFN must provide verifiable age confirming documents, including birth certificates, passports, school records, or medical files, to establish the the athletes\u2019 true ages.<\/p>\n
Failure to do so will trigger a full AIU investigation into possible age manipulation, a serious violation of the Integrity Code of Conduct and World Athletics technical regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NSC insisted on thorough accountability from the AFN after the story broke, with the Chairman, Mallam Shehu Dikko, expressing his displeasure with the AFN saying that heads will roll if anybody is found culpable.<\/p>\n
At a time we are giving no place to age cheat in our sports, this will not be swept under the carpet, I can assure Nigerians. We are determined to get it right from our age grade competitions,\u201d Dikko stated then.<\/p>\n
The Director General of the NSC, Bukola Olopade, also said then, that the AFN must put its house in order and display true competence and diligence to restore confidence and prevent international embarrassment.<\/p>\n
Former President of the AFN, Olamide George, told The Guardian from his base in the United States of America that the issue of age falsification under the present AFN leadership has long been a
\ntroubling shadow over the federation\u2019s integrity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe AIU\u2019s introduction of stricter sanctions could represent a turning point in addressing this long-standing challenge,\u201d George said. \u201cFor every cheat, there must be a penalty. After thorough investigation by AIU, it could decide to suspend the affected athletes, ban officials implicated in the fraud, and penalise the federation, to deliver justice while signalling a commitment to reform.\u201d<\/p>\n
It would be recalled that the AFN set up a committee to investigate the incident last year(Guardian)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Age Falsification: panic in AFN as AIU January 16 deadline approaches The board of Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) is running from pillar to post, looking for solutions on the age falsification saga following a January 16, 2026 deadline from World Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU). On December 2, 2025, the World Athletics age regulatory body […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":149693,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-149691","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-others"},"yoast_head":"\n