Favour Ofili confirms switch from Nigeria to Turkey

By Boluwatife Kehinde

Olympic 200m finalist Favour Ofili has confirmed her decision to switch international allegiance from Nigeria to Turkey.

Announcing the move on Instagram, the 22-year-old sprinter stressed that her choice was “from the heart, not financial motives,” citing years of neglect and administrative failures by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and the National Olympic Committee (NOC) during both the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Games.

Ofili, who has won six gold, two silver, and two bronze medals for Nigeria, was excluded from the AFN’s list of 15 athletes for the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

Reports indicate she initiated the switch earlier this year, with her change of allegiance taking effect on 31 May. The AFN has yet to issue an official response.

Veteran journalist Kenny Raynor, citing sources who spoke to Jamaica’s TVJ Newscentre, reported that Ofili informed the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) that her decision was not financially driven but born out of deep frustration with the way Nigerian officials had managed her career.

Ofili boasts personal bests of 10.93 seconds in the 100m and 21.96 seconds in the 200m. She missed the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after Nigeria failed to meet mandatory anti-doping requirements — a blunder that led to the disqualification of nine other athletes and drew international criticism.

Her disappointment deepened at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where she was barred from competing in the 100m due to what she described as another administrative error by the AFN.

Although she contested the 200m and finished sixth in the final, the incident reinforced her disillusionment.

Responding to a fan who asked whether any officials had been held accountable for repeated negligence, Ofili replied:

“They are all still in office. They said I was paid a compensation fee — to clarify, I got nothing from anyone, not even an apology.”