For the 5th time, National Sports Festival postponed again

Reports reaching BlackBox Nigeria has it that the National Sports Festival has again been postponed. This is the fifth time the biennial sports event is being moved due to uncontrollable circumstances.

Although no major reason has been stated for the postponment this time around, BlackBox Nigeria observed that it might not be unconnected to funding and final arrangements to see the success of the festival.

A reliable source informed our correspondent that the new date set is now March 14th as against the initial February 14th date for the commencement of the festival.

The National Sports Festival was initially billed to hold in March 2020 but was moved indefinitely due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was later rescheduled for December 2020 but was again moved to January 2021 which was later moved to February. Now, the festival has again been moved by a month.

Weeks ago, the Governor of Edo state and the host of the festival, Godwin Obaseki lamented that the state couldn’t afford to finance the festival while requesting that the Federal Government comes through with financial support.

It has also been learnt that some Nigerian athletes are mobilizing to protest against the shabby ways things are being handled by the organizers and the ministry. The athletes are lamenting that the way the government is handling the festival will definitely affect their careers especially for those preparing to participate in international competitions.