NSF: Team Rivers threaten to withdraw over non-payment of salaries
All is certainly not well with Team Rivers contingent as athletes from the state are threatening to withdraw from the ongoing National Sports Festival in Abuja over the non-payment of their salaries.
According to multiple sources from the state’s contingent, they have been ‘abandoned and left to our fate’ by the Rivers State government, who is now ‘solely focused on the 2019 elections’.
Athletes and officials from Rivers State arrived Abuja late on Thursday evening and missed the parade and March past of the opening ceremony as a result, fueling speculations they may have already boycotted the event.
However, this website learnt that the contingent only left Port Harcourt on Thursday morning, hence their late arrival for an event which began less than 24 hours later, something one of the athletes, who spoke on the condition of anonymity described as a shame.
“Is it not a shame that we left Port Harcourt yesterday (Thursday) for an event which begins today? How are we supposed to rest and prepare? It is a big shame on Rivers,” the athlete said.
Rivers State has been one of the more consistent states at the Sports Festival in terms of appearance and performance, frequently challenging Delta State to the top honours.
But speaking to us, another athlete pointedly warned the Rivers State government and governor Nyesom Wike in particular, trolling them to expect the worst should they fail to meet their financial demands.
“Every festival we compete with Delta to finish first, but this time I think they should expect the worst. See the governor of Delta has promised one million naira to every gold medalist from their state, but what has our governor given or promised us?” he asked rather rhetorically.
“If you go to Rivers now, all they think about is 2019, not about us. But they have forgotten we make up the young population in the state and could decide the outcome of those elections. How will they campaign to the young people in the state?
“We are asking governor Wike to come to our rescue and pay our allowances or we would have no choice but to withdraw from the competition, which will be a big embarrassment for the state,” he stated further.
The 19th National Sports Festival began on Thursday after a six-year hiatus, which saw Cross River failing to host since the last edition in Lagos in 2012.