The Hockey Federation of Nigeria NHF on Thursday bared six female athletes from participating in the ongoing 18th edition of the National Sports Festival tagged “Eko 2012.
Four of the athletes – Faith Yusuf, Rifkatu Peter, Tabita Julius and Adi Dorris – are from Adamawa State.
Two other players, Ogochukwu Udogu and Blessing Nwankwo, from Anambra State, were also sent packing.
According to the tournament’s Director, Walter Imoedenihe, the athletes were disqualified because they were not accredited for the festival and their names also did not appear on the list of the Main Organizing Committee of the Games.
Imoedenihe said: “We decided to disqualify the athletes because their states did not register them for the championship neither did their names appear in the Main Organizing Committee list of the championship which would have enabled us to give them special consideration.”
He noted that experience in the past has shown that athletes who are not eligible to contest in the Games, having appeared in three previous festivals, employ other means to be part of the festival, which made the Federation to be serious about screening of players.
Meanwhile in some of the matches played on Thursday at the Legacy Pitch of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, the Kaduna State hockey team defeated Anambra by 1-0 while Rivers State recorded the same goal margin against their Adamawa state counterpart.