Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung has revealed that the Federal Government has released funds for the Commonwealth Games slated for Gold Coast, Australia in April 4 to 15, 2017.
Around 6,600 athletes from 70 nations and territories are expected to attend the Games, which will feature 275 medal events in 18 sports.
The minister said funds that had been major problems in preparing athletes ahead of major competitions in the past would not be the case this time around.
“We always complained about lack of funds before major competitions in the past, but we are not having such problems ahead of the next Commonwealth Games,” he said.
“What we requested from the Federal Government was not just approved, but the funds have been released to the last kobo”.
He believes there will be no excuses for the athletes not to perform to their optimal capacity at the Games.
“We have started preparations in earnest with most of our athletes already in various camps in the country ahead of the Games and we believe we are good to go.”
Meanwhile, Nigeria and other Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs) will be able to submit athletes’ names to the Gold Coast 2018 sport entries system.
An online sport entries and qualification module went live yesterday, with the system having been integrated as part of the overall Games management system by Gold Coast 2018.
The module is aimed at streamlining the entry and validation information surrounding athletes’ sport entries.
CGAs will have until March 7 to submit athletes for individual competitions at this year’s Games, as well as their preliminary squads for team events.
Final squads for team events such as basketball, netball and rugby sevens, will need to be confirmed by March 19.
The system is used to handle the submission of athletes’ names, opposed to the entries by number which was due back in September.
