NOC has not received share of IOC’s grant to member committees, says Gumel

President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), Habu Gumel, has clarified that the committee was yet to receive any money from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which recently announced that it would give a $100 million palliative to its member committees to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a zoom meeting held yesterday, the NOC deliberated on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which will now hold in 2021, the Commonwealth Youth Games, which has been postponed to 2023, the 2022 Commonwealth Games, athletes’ welfare, the IOC agenda on 30 per cent women involvement in the National Federations’ activities and support for the federations.

Speaking after the meeting, where it also discussed COVID-19 sporting activities in Nigeria, Gumel said, the IOC earmarked the fund for its member associations from which “15 International Federations (IFs) got loans, five International Federations (IFs) got donations, others will share $63 million to cushion the effect of the pandemic, while 206 NOCs will get a share of $37 million based on Olympic Solidarity evaluation of needs and assessment.”

He said the NOC would only know what would accrue to them as a body when the process has been concluded.

Gumel also revealed that preparation for the Tokyo Olympics has reached an advanced stage and thanked the Youth and Sports Development Minister, Sunday Dare, for supporting the NOC’s activities.

He also told federations yet to qualify for the Olympics to check their portals for updates on the qualifiers, adding that the NOC is committed to supporting the Federations and the athletes to achieve the desired goal.