The Nigerian Taekwondo Federation (NTF) has announced plans to host the country’s first-ever online taekwondo championships at the National Online Poomsae Championships.

More than 60 athletes are set to take part in the two-day event which will hold on 31 July and 1 August.

Male and female competitions will be held in both the over-18 and under-18 categories.

Registration is now open and prize money and certificates will be awarded to the gold, silver and bronze medallists.

Alhaji Sani Lawal, the chairman of the NTF’s Technical and Development Committee, convened an online meeting to discuss preparations with officials involved.

NTF technical director Chika Chukwumerije, who won an Olympic bronze medal in the over-80 kilograms class at Beijing 2008, was among those to take part.

Chukwumerije will serve as tournament director for the online event.

Harun Usman has taken the role of event organiser.

Online events in a number of sports have become popular during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused various restrictions around the world.

“Taekwondo is known to be resilient and its practitioners are known to be creative,” said Lawal.

“This event is our response to COVID-19’s restrictive effect on the world.

“It will be the first-time ever and we are happy to present an opportunity to our practitioners to ensure they remain active.”