AFN cautions athletes over risky scholarship deals

The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has warned Nigerian athletes and their families against signing scholarship agreements with agents or agencies without fully understanding the terms, as certain deals may negatively impact their education, careers, and long-term interests. AFN President Tonobok Okowa emphasized that the federation closely monitors such agreements and will intervene if they are detrimental to the athlete or Nigeria.

This warning follows reports of risky clauses and extortion from an agency that allegedly ties down athletes to five-year deals and takes 25% of their earnings. Okowa, also a Senior Vice President of the Confederation of African Athletics, stressed that the AFN has not entered any agreements with agents or agencies to provide scholarships to Nigerian athletes and urged athletes and their families to exercise caution before committing to any arrangement.

The federation emphasized the importance of protecting minors from agreements that could negatively affect their education, careers, or national representation.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch Nigeria's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.