The Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC) has announced measures to prevent age fraud at the maiden National Intermediate Games (NIG), scheduled to take place in Lagos in October.
The Director-General of the LSSC and Vice-Chairman of the Local Organising Committee/Ministerial Organising Committee (LOC/MOC), Hon. Lekan Fatodu, disclosed this during a media parley with sports editors and media partners at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa, Ikeja.
Fatodu said the organisers were working with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to verify the ages of participating athletes, prevent multiple identities and ensure compliance with the age requirements for the competition.
The National Intermediate Games, an initiative of the National Sports Commission, is designed to bridge the gap between the National Youth Games and the National Sports Festival.
The competition is targeted at athletes between the ages of 15 and 18, with the aim of identifying, nurturing and transitioning promising young talents into elite athletes.
No fewer than 14,000 athletes from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory are expected to participate in the inaugural Games.
According to Fatodu, the strict age-verification measures were informed by Lagos State’s experience at the last National Youth Games in Delta State, where the state reportedly submitted the highest number of petitions against teams accused of presenting athletes aged 19 and 20 for a competition meant for 15-year-olds.
He said the LOC was determined to prevent a repeat of such incidents by putting appropriate verification mechanisms in place ahead of the Lagos Games.
Earlier, the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy and Chairman of the Games’ Publicity Sub-Committee, Gbenga Omotoso, described the event as the first national youth competition of its kind in Nigeria.
Omotoso said Lagos was committed to hosting the Games excellently, citing the state’s successful hosting of major events, including Eko 2012 and the Formula E1-Prix, as evidence of its capacity to stage large-scale sporting competitions.
The inaugural National Intermediate Games are expected to provide a major platform for young athletes across Nigeria to showcase their talents while creating a pathway towards future elite-level competition.
