‘Paucity of funds affecting Nigeria’s participation in World Wrestling Championships’

The Nigerian Wrestling Federation (NWF) on Thursday said that paucity of funds had forced it to prune the number of wrestlers for the forthcoming World Wrestling Championships in Paris.

The President of NWF, Daniel Igali, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone that a full team was what was initially intended to represent the country.

NAN reports that the championships commence on Aug. 21and end on Aug. 27.

“The technical committee had earlier recommended for all the gold medalists at the last African championships to attend.

“The current financial realities have forced us to prune the number to six.

“Funding the trip still remains a challenge as we have yet to raise the required funds to facilitate the wrestlers participation,” he said.

Igali, who is also a member of the Bayelsa House of Assembly, however, called on the sport’s lovers to come to their aid through funding.

“We are calling on Nigerians to come to our aid so that the wrestlers can participate and showcase their skills. “They have prepared so hard and I don’t want their efforts to be in vain,” he said.

On the final team list, Igali said, that “we will unveil the number on the final list to the media about 10 days before the event.”

At the last edition of the World Championships which held in Las Vegas, Nigeria won a bronze medal through Adekuoroye Odunayo in the 53kg class.

In this edition, Adekuoroye will, however, be competing in the 55kg class. (NAN) will