Commonwealth Games: NSC bows to pressure, pays athletes

The National Sports Commission has paid Team Nigeria athletes at the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland six days competition allowances following complaints from different quarters.
Gbenga Elegbeleye, the Director-General of the NSC, who made the disclosure to the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Glasgow, said the issue was blown out of proportion.
NAN recalls that the Minister of Sports, Tammy Danagogo, had on Friday last week ordered the immediate payment of the allowances after complaints by athletes and officials.
Elegbeleye, who is also the Chef de Mission of Team Nigeria contingent to the Games, told NAN that the pressure from the media necessitated the payment, which was contrary to their plan.
According to Elegbeleye, the initial plan is to pay the athletes their money in bulk after the Games, the same method adopted in Gaborone, Botswana, in May during the 2014 African Youth Games.
He said: “It is you journalists that rushed us into paying them.
“We don’t want to pay early because it will cause a lot of distractions for the athletes.
“The money is right with us here but when you people (media) keep writing that they are suffering and that they have not been paid, then we have no option than to pay them.
“You (NAN) are in the Games Village, did you see any supermarket here?
“What will they use the money to do?
“Food is free here, so why do we have to give them money now?
“Why don’t we keep their money for them and give it to them in bulk?
“But since you (media) have been writing that we have not paid them, we then chose to pay them for six days.”
The NSC director-general said that there was enough money to take care of the welfare of the athletes and officials but thought it would have been safer to keep the money for them till the end of the competition.
Elegbeleye explained that athletes who won medals for the country at the Games were paid their allowances in addition to the winning bonus at a mini ceremony in Glasgow to encourage other athletes.
He urged the athletes to put the country first in their endeavours at the Games as government had started making plans to host them on arrival from Glasgow.