Sports administrators and coaches have been urged to eliminate age cheating in the nation’s sports sector.

Tonnex Chukwu, a member of the 2026 Niger Delta National Screening Committee, stated this in an interview after the final screening of Ondo State athletes for the Niger Delta Games.

Mr Chukwu commended the organisers of the games for introducing a pre-competition screening, describing it as a thoughtful reform.

He also praised the consulting company, Dunamis, particularly its chief executive officer, Itiakpo Ikpopo, for what he described as efforts to reposition sports development in the Niger Delta region.

“He called us and said, ‘Let’s see if we can rejig sports in the Niger Delta states.’ He said he wanted a system where athletes going to the Niger Delta Games and even international competitions must truly be from the Niger Delta. That was why we decided to lower the age limit compared to the first edition,” Mr Chukwu said.

According to him, the screening has exposed long-standing issues of age falsification in sports.

“It has really opened our eyes. If you remember what happened in Uyo during the maiden edition, there was no screening, which gave room for too many age cheats. Age cheating must be wiped out in our sports, no matter whose ox is gored,” he said.

Mr Chukwu said athletes were screened across several sports, including football, athletics, boxing, table tennis, volleyball, handball, wrestling, basketball, traditional wrestling and scrabble, among others.

He said that coaches remained the first point of contact with athletes and must therefore play a key role in ensuring the success of the games.

Mr Chukwu appealed to coaches to intensify their efforts, noting that their performance so far had been encouraging.

“I want to appeal to our coaches to do more work, but so far, so good; they are really trying,” he said.

He disclosed that a total of 270 athletes and 46 coaches would represent Ondo State at the second edition of the games, scheduled to be held in Edo from February 20 to February 27.

Meanwhile, the secretary of the Ondo State Liaison Committee, Henry Babatunde, described the screening as “fantastic”, saying the state was fully prepared for the games.

Mr Babatunde said the state had earlier concluded local government and zonal screenings last week, adding that the final screening was also successful.

(NAN)