AFN President confirms Nigerian sprint star Favour Ofili’s allegiance switch to Turkey, warns more Athletes may follow

AFN President confirms Nigerian Sprint Star Favour Ofili’s allegiance switches to Turkey, warns more Athletes may follow.

The president of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, Tonobok Okowa, has confirmed that Nigerian sprinter Favour Ofili has switched allegiance to Turkey.

During a press briefing at the 2025 National Athletics Championship held at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, Mr Okowa confirmed the switch and sounded a warning that more Athletes may follow to better-funded foreign programmes.

“I can tell you that most of our elite athletes are already being approached by other countries to change their nationality and allegiance,” he said.

“And as we speak, Favour Ofili has been taken by the Turkish Federation.”

Ofili’s switch comes just months before the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. Although her name still appears under Nigeria on the World Athletics website, federation insiders say the change is imminent.

Okowa stated that financial incentives are a major reason driving athletes like Ofili to leave Nigeria.

“The kind of money they put on the table to get her is not something many athletes would refuse. That is why we are pleading with Nigeria as a nation and our government to come out and support us, so we don’t keep losing our athletes,” he said.

Reports indicate that Turkey, which has stepped up its recruitment of foreign athletes in recent months, offers as much as $500,000 to top performers willing to make the switch.