The Director-General of the Lagos State Sports Commission, Lekan Fatodu, has met with the mother of a young squash player who featured in a viral video over an alleged obstruction to her daughter’s participation in a sporting engagement.
Mr Fatodu met with Abike Oshodi and her daughter, Tanimola Oshodi, on Wednesday to hear directly from them and understand the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Tanimola, who represents Lagos in squash and competes in the Under-15 category, had reportedly been prevented from participating in a crucial sporting engagement by personnel of Surulere Local Government.
During the meeting, Mrs Oshodi acknowledged the role of the Lagos State Sports Commission in supporting her daughter and other young athletes.
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She, however, urged the Commission to do more to sensitise other government institutions across the state on the importance of supporting young athletes rather than actions that could undermine their sporting ambitions.
She particularly called for greater awareness of the need to protect the aspirations of young people, especially girls pursuing careers in sports.
Responding to the concerns, Mr Fatodu assured the family that the Commission would engage the government entity involved to prevent a recurrence.
He said the Commission would also consider measures to strengthen its response to similar situations involving young athletes.
According to him, these measures would include developing a policy framework to mitigate circumstances that could disrupt athletes’ participation in competitions, improving communication channels between the Commission, athletes and their parents, and increasing awareness among government ministries, departments and agencies on the need to protect emerging sporting talent.
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“The dream of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is to see young talents being discovered in Lagos and nurtured to full potential. So, any action by anyone or an entity that seeks to negate that lofty ambition for youth empowerment through sports will be a massive disservice to efforts on talent development ” Mr Fatodu said.
The Commission said the engagement with the Oshodi family was intended to better understand the circumstances surrounding the incident and ensure that appropriate steps are taken to support the young athlete.
Tanimola is one of the young athletes representing Lagos in squash at the Under-15 level.
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