NOC cautions athletes planning to defect in Australia

Promises hitch-free visa procedure

THE Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) has warned athletes intending to defect in Australia after the 2018 Commonwealth Games to banish such thoughts, saying that stringent rules are in place to monitor members of the Nigerian contingent and their counterparts from other countries at the event.

Speaking with Theguardian yesterday following a statement by the Australian government through its Home Affairs Minister, Peter Dutton, NOC Secretary General, Tunde Popoola said no member of the Nigerian delegation would be able to stay beyond the stipulated period of the event because no athlete at the Commonwealth Games will get an Australian visa.

Popoola explained that every member of Team Nigeria will have a code attached to his passport to clarify that he is representing Nigeria in Australia for only the period of the Commonwealth Games. He declared that the NOC on its part has put stringent modalities in place to monitor the activities of Nigerian athletes in Australia.

“I don’t think any Nigerian athlete will plan to defect in Australia after the Commonwealth Games because Nigeria will send a disciplined contingent to the games. Aside that, the NOC and the Commonwealth

Games organising committee have a well arranged security system to ensure the issue of athletes overstaying in the country does not occur. The Nigerian passport that the athletes will present at the point of entry to Australia will not be stamped or have any visa. This implies that any athlete who does not leave the country after the games will be easily tracked.