NATIONAL SPORTS FESTIVAL COULD STILL HOLD THIS YEAR - SPORTS MINISTER
Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, has said the 2020 National Sports Festival (NSF) scheduled for Benin, Edo State, could still hold this year, but added that the ministry has not made a final decision.
Sunday Dare made this known on Channels TV morning program; 'Sports This Morning on Monday, July 27th, 2020.
Recall that the Federal Government postponed the National Sports Festival in March because of the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic.
With normalcy gradually returning, the Minister said the festival could hold before December.
“Our expectation is that it happens this year.
“I take my cue from the meeting of the National Council on Sports. We had a virtual meeting about 11 weeks ago and the council unanimously agreed that the sports festival should hold in 2020, and that means perhaps between now and December.’’ he said.
Dare said the Sports Ministry would be working with relevant authorities before a decision is made.
He said; “The ministry of sports will be properly guided before we take a final decision.”
Recall that the minister on May 19th set up an 11-man committee to look into the possibility of hosting the event this year.
The committee submitted its report on June 12, and Dare says the report is currently with the implementation committee.
“We immediately set up an 11-man committee that went to Benin to check the facilities and to also check the COVID-19 infrastructure in place, to see how the protocols are set out and they have worked within 30 days, the report was submitted to the ministry, and the implementation committee is looking at it.
“We had a representative of the NCDC, a representative from the health ministry and a representative from the Presidential Task Force and what they have done is a thorough job.
“What they have done is to recommend looking at between now till December, what are the possibilities and what are the things that need to be in place but I think for us, the most important thing is working with the PTF, the NCDC and the health ministry,” he said.
The Nigerian National Sports Festival is a biennial multi-sport event organized by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the National Sports Commission for athletes from the 36 States of Nigeria.
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