Nigerian inquiry after Ofili left off Olympic start list

Favour Ofili won silver in the women's 200m at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and was also part of the Nigeria team which took women's 4x100m gold

Nigerian officials have told the BBC they are trying to work out how Favour Ofili’s name was left off the entry list for the women’s 100m at Paris 2024.

The 21-year-old sprinter was expecting to compete in three events at her first Olympics: the 100m, 200m and women’s 4x100m relay.

But Ofili was told that she had not been registered for the 100m before Friday’s heats.

She subsequently shared a blistering statement on social media saying: “I have worked for four years to earn this opportunity. For what?”

There is confusion as to what happened, with both Nigerian officials and governing body World Athletics denying responsibility.

“We are trying to get to the root of it, because she qualified in our trials and the result was sent to World Athletics,” Solomon Ogba, a vice president of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, told BBC Sport Africa in Paris.

“We just confirmed that. Normally World Athletics will send [entries] for Paris 2024. That is where the confusion is.”

However, World Athletics, the organisation responsible for drawing up start lists, has confirmed to BBC Sport Africa that Ofili was only entered in two events - the 200m and the women’s 4x100m relay.

Nigeria's sports minister, senator John Owan Enoh, said the saga will be investigated and there will be "thorough sanctions” for those found culpable for the oversight.

More Olympic heartbreak for Ofili

Ofili pointed the blame at the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) in her posts on social media.

"I qualified, but those with the AFN and NOC failed to enter me," she said.

"If those responsible are not held accountable for taking this opportunity from me, neither organisation can ever be trusted in the future!"

The AFN did not respond to a request for comment, but Ogba said the NOC had told Ofili it is working on her case.

"Let's see how it goes," he added.

"The sports minister is on top of it and is doing everything possible to get to the root of the issue."

This is not the first time Ofili has suffered Olympic heartbreak on a technicality.

She failed to compete at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games, missing out on what would have been her debut Olympics after not meeting requirements for a minimum number of out-of-competition drug tests.

Questions are now being asked about this latest administrative error, which has also angered Nigerian sports fans.