Bauchi State Ministry of Youths and Sports Development has ordered the Sports Council to drop all Team Sports ahead of the 2023 National Youth Games, www.aclsports.com gathered.
The 2023 National Youth Games will be held from 20th to 30th September in Asaba, Delta state.
Bauchi state qualified for the Baseball (Boys), Handball (Girls), Hockey (Girls), Rugby (Boys) and Volleyball (Boys and Girls)
In an exclusive interview with www.aclsports.com Aliyu Mohammed revealed that the staff of the Ministry of Youth and Sports as well Sports Council have embarked on a series of meetings in the last 48 hours pondering how to prune down the size of the contingents.
He said the morale of the players has been down since the news broke out from the ministry.
The baseball player said, “The players of the various team sports are unhappy with the decision of the Ministry of Youth and Sports to drop all the team sports. They should have informed us before going for the zonal eliminations that we would not be allowed to participate in the National Youth Games so that some of us could assist our parents at their various shops.
“The ministry and sports council have been in a series of meetings in the last 48 hours planning to reduce the number of sports attending the NYG. The athletes are not happy and calling on the State Governor, Bala Mohammed to come to our rescue.
Kazeem Shekarau told www.aclsports.com the athletes might be a repetition of what happened at the 6th edition of the National Youth Games in Ilorin where Team Bauchi arrived at the venue two days before the end of the Games.
Shekarau said, “I thought with the appointment of a new Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Mohammed Salees things would have been better. If you remember vividly, Bauchi State got to Ilorin two days before the end of the National Youth Games and still got stranded.
“The State Government refused to settle the remaining allowances of the athletes and officials which led to a national embarrassment. I hope the same will not befall the state because of the moves of the sports ministry.
“The ministry is only concerned about Wikki Tourists Football Club and they have forgotten that they are not the only sport in the state. One of the ways the state government can reduce crime in society is by engaging the youth through sports. I am appealing to His Excellency, Governor Bala Mohammed to take sports seriously in his second term”.
Bauchi State with 152 athletes attended the North East zonal elimination at the National Youth Games (NYG) hosted in Damaturu, Yobe State last August.
