“It   must  have   been love, but it’s over now”. Perhaps this is the song sprinter, Gloria Asumnu is humming under her breath after she was served a six-month suspension notice by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria.

The quick to nettle athlete, according to the AFN, was fed the disciplinary soup for refusing to run the 4x100m relay at the last World Championships in Moscow, Russia. The athlete in a chat stated that she is preparing her response to the latest twist in her short career with the Nigerian team. She indicated that her romance with Team Nigeria might as well be over.

*Gloria Asumnu

“The suspension is only for 6 months. Starting in August it ends at the end of January.

“I will be sending in my letter of response. No worries though; You’ll see me on the track again in other competitions maybe not in Nigeria,” said the athlete.

Asumnu’s athletics career received a boost when she joined the Nigerian team, after failing to grab a spot in the over crowded and star-studded United States set up. She was born and bred in the USA. She appeared in her first ever World Championships with the Nigerian team at Daegu in 2011 and also made her debut at the London 2012 Olympics.  However, according to a former athlete based in the USA, Asumnu’s disciplinary issues were as a result of those in authority at the AFN not being able to draw a line between familiarity and professional conduct.

“In as much as I don’t condone indiscipline; I state that Gloria acted that way because others have been doing it and they got away with it.

“If you have a house where things are not done properly, then you will always have athletes behaving like they are untouchables.”