ABUJA, Nigeria — Tonobok Okowa, President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), has said 22-year-old sprint star Favour Ofili is “old enough to decide what’s best for her” amid widespread reports that the athlete is seeking to switch allegiance to another country, reportedly Turkey.
On Sunday, June 22, 2025, social media reports claimed that Ofili, who holds the 150-metre world record, has written to the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) to initiate the process of changing her nationality.
The reports allege she cited frustration with the AFN’s handling of her participation in international competitions as a key reason for the decision.
However, as of Monday, June 23, 2025, World Athletics’ official website still lists Ofili as representing Nigeria, and the AFN says it has not received formal notification from either the athlete or World Athletics.
“If this is true, it is sad, disheartening and painful,” Okowa said in a statement, “but we are yet to get any official statement from her or any correspondence from World Athletics (WA) on her request. She is a promising athlete with huge potential.”
Okowa noted that the AFN and the National Sports Commission (NSC) had been making efforts to rebuild the country’s athletics programme and had already disbursed Ofili’s training grant for the year.
He suggested that while discussions had been ongoing with Ofili to bring her back into the national fold, “it’s also clear that she had been preparing and working on her newfound Turkish love.”
“She is still our child, sister and daughter,” Okowa added.
“We will not stop her.”
Ofili, who represented Nigeria at the 2024 Paris Olympics and finished sixth in the women’s 200m final, was previously left out of the women’s relay event despite qualifying—an omission widely criticised at the time.
She was also among ten Nigerian athletes ruled ineligible for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after the AFN failed to meet anti-doping compliance requirements.
The AFN admitted in the statement that Ofili has been “difficult to deal with,” citing incidents where she declined to compete at national trials or selected only specific events.
“Despite our own inadequacies, on several occasions she shunned the national trials, and even when she came, she selected the events she preferred to compete in,” the statement reads.
“No doubt Ofili is one of our best athletes in recent times, but she is difficult to deal with.”
Okowa said all attempts to reach Ofili since the Paris Olympics had failed.
“We tried to heal the wounds,” he said, “but she shut us out.”
Ofili’s possible defection would not be unprecedented. Several Nigerian athletes have switched nationalities in past decades, often citing poor federation management.
Notable examples include Gloria Alozie (Spain), Francis Obikwelu (Portugal), Femi Ogunode (Qatar), and more recently, Annette Echikunwoke, who won silver for the United States in the women’s hammer throw at the Paris Olympics.
