Director of the University of Port Harcourt High Performance Center and former board member of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) Professor Ken Anugweje has hailed the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to approve the postponement of the 20th National Sports Festival, Edo 2020.
On Tuesday, Nigeria’s Youth and Sports Minister Sunday Dare broke the news of the indefinite postponement of the National Sports Festival as a ‘precautionary move’ to avoid the spread of the deadly Coronavirus which now has 8 confirmed cases in the country.
In an interview with Today FM in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, the Professor of Sports Medicine described the decision as the ‘best thing to do’.
“That is a very good precautionary move; if you consider that our health care delivery system cannot cope with any outbreak of Coronavirus – of Covid-19 – in this place, I think that was the best thing to do,” he stated.
Asked whether the current Nigeria Professional Football League campaign should also be suspended till further notice following the spread of the virus, Prof. Anugweje said: “Incidentally, I was listening to Shehu Dikko (the LMC chairman) yesterday (Monday) and he said they have no intentions of stopping the league.
“And if you consider that there are virtually no crowds in any of the venues, I’m sure he (Shehu Dikko) may have a point, but places like the Sani Abacha stadium in Kano and a few other places would pose problems because the crowd are usually very massive.”
