By Patrick Omorodion

Athletics Federation of Nigeria intention to keep its athletes in top shape for the Commonwealth Games July 23-August 3 in Glasgow, Scotland may run into a hitch as funds to keep its training camp going, is running dry.

Technical director of the AFN Navy Commodore Omatseye Nesiama, hinted that unless there is a change of situation the programme may not be able to continue. The second phase of the camping ended on Thursday and the third phase is expected to commence after the All-Comers meet in Sagamu in Ogun State.

“My only worry is that we are breaking off the camp and I hope we are able to get resources to assemble them as fast as possible,” he said.

However, he said that the AFN has been encouraged by the response of the athletes in training, adding that some of them have already hit the Commonwealth Games standards.

“Our own set standard is higher than that of the Commonwealth Games.

“From what I have seen, 80 per cent of the athletes will make the Commonwealth Games standard without blinking their eyes.

“We are not going to work only with the Commonwealth qualifying standard; Nigeria is beyond that now because we don’t just want to go and participate, we want to go and make meaningful impact.

“That is just the minimum because we are going to have several other trials like the national competitions where we will determine the final team that will go to the Games.

“We expect that the team we will take to the Commonwealth Games will qualify based on a much higher standard than the official Games qualification standard,” Nesiama added.

Also, Thaddeus Okpara, the All Nigeria Athletics Championship high jump champion, told NAN that he had just four centimetres left to meet the standard.