President of
Nigeria Taekwondo Federation George Ashiru has expressed optimism that Nigeria
will present a formidable team capable of springing a surprise at the 2020
Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
The country
according to him has never lacked the potentials but the funds to take the
athletes to the desired level.
Ashiru who
regretted that economic recession in the country has affected sports seriously,
said the Taekwondo Federation have had
to draw a priority list to determine events to attend and those to shun due to
financial constraints, he however expressed hope that corporate bodies will
identify to some extent with the game in spite of the crushing economic
realities.
"The
federation for now has been paying more attention to athletes in the 18-19 age
brackets some of who are already ranked and are competing, these are the ones
we would have to work on ahead of the Olympics, "he said
In what
could pass for general assessment of the game so far in the country, Ashiru
said 30 years of taekwondo in the country has been worth it as it remains one
of the fastest growing sports in the country and gave Korean Embassy in Nigeria a pat on the
back for boosting the game through the annual Korean Ambassador's championship
"The
first board of the game was inaugurated in 1986 and it has been steady growth
since then, taekwondo is one of the fastest growing sports in the country and
we believe that it can only get better,” he enthused
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