Delay in releasing WESPAC funds worries NSF
Less than a month to the beginning of the World English Scrabble Players Association (WESPA) Championship in Goa, India, the Nigeria Scrabble Federation (NSF) has raised the alarm over the sports ministry’s delay in releasing funds for its participation in the competition.
The championship will hold from October 15 to 19, 2019.
According to the Scrabble Federation, Nigeria ranked as the best scrabble-playing nation in the world owing to its victory in 2015, may miss the competition in India next month if urgent steps were not taken to raise funds for the contingent.
Speaking to The Guardian yesterday, the national team coach, Prince Tony Ikolo appealed to the sports ministry, corporate bodies, as well as well-meaning Nigerians, to sponsor the Nigerian team to India.
He said it would be a bad omen for the country if Team Nigeria failed to attend this year’s event.
“The sports ministry is yet to release funds for Nigeria’s participation in the championship slated for India next month.
“The federation is appealing to the Minister of Youth and Sports, Sunday Dare and other stakeholders to provide funds for the scrabble team to successfully defend the title they won in 2015.
“We are also calling on companies and individuals to come to our aid. Nigeria is the number one scrabble-playing nation in the world at this moment. The team is ahead of big English speaking nations like England and U.S. in the latest world scrabble ranking.
“With this achievement, I believe the scrabble team is a big brand that needs to be sponsored. Team Nigeria needs to defend the world title this year,” he said.
