Tandoh Urges States To Delve Into Grassroot Sports.

Following the unprofessional attitude of the Anambra State in featuring a Cameroonian in the weightlifting event in the ongoing National Sports Festival tagged EKO 2012 Games, the Local Organising Committee, L.O.C, has called on the participating states to delve into aggressive grassroot sports development to eradicate poaching, parading of mercenaries and win at all cost syndrome at any organised national comwetition.

 "Sports administrators in Nigeria needs to plan.It is because we don't have a plan, because we don't have strategy that you just want to pay money and bring someone in to compete for you."The idea of the National Sports Festival is not the wining at all cost, the idea of the Games is to develop talents" he said

Secretary General of the L.O.C, Kweku Tandoh, said lack of adequate planning and ability to strategies ahead of a major tournament has compelled Nigeria's sports administrators to delve into poaching of athletes in an efforts to place the state in a comfortable position on the medals table log, stressing that the concept of the National Sports Festival was to develop talents who turn out to become world's greatest athletes if they are well trained and nurtured to stardom.

 "These are issues that have bedeviled Nigerian sports.One thing that Lagos State has said from the beginning is that we are going to provide a level plain field."And i believe that its a combination of that that has led to all thses incident being brought to force and being dealt with appropriately.

"Even if you do not Gold medals at the National Sports Festival, by the time youn win it eventually, you are going to have an athlete that have a sustained performance and you can have an athlete that you can say we groom this athlete to this level"

Tandoh, explained that most of the world's renowned athletes were engaged in series of rigoruous training to achieve great height in their chosen profession and it would be fantastic if the nation's sports administrators could emulate such gesture by investing on a long time project on their athletes, adding that Nigeria's Sports administrators must stop desist from fire brigade approach to competitions and also eschew from desperation to win at all cost,

"We need to stop fire brigade approach to competition and the despiration to win at all cost.Am happy that allthe incident that had happened in that regards has been dealt with"

 On the 18th National Sports Festival, Tandoh, said the Local Organising Committee was satisfied with the organisation of the National Sports Festival despite some challenges the Committee was confronted with in the early stage of the championship, adding that their mutual relationship with the Main Organising Committee,M.O.C, has helped the committee to run the championship to the admiration of the National Sports Commission,NSC.