President of the Nigeria Olympians Association (NOA), Henry Amike, on Tuesday in Lagos said that the use of banned substances by athletes was mostly deliberate.
Amike urged the 2016 Rio Olympic Games-bound athletes not to compromise their integrity.
“No athlete will ever come out voluntarily to admit to the use of performance enhancing drugs, they will always maintain their innocence which makes it a double tragedy, taking drugs and lying.
“Most of the time, they claim it was given to them, for Christ’s sake, as professional athletes, why should you use such, knowing the consequence when caught?
“I was at some point a professional athlete, so, I know how this works.
“The IAAF keeps educating athletes about banned substances and even the AFN does the same, so, ignorance is no excuse.
“At an international stage such as the Olympics, our representatives should be mindful of their conduct in order not to further dent the image of our country,’’ he said.
On the reasons athletes engage in such dishonourable act, the former Quarter-miler said that there was no reason good enough to justify doping.
“When we went to the London Games in 2012, which till date is our worst performance since we started participating in Olympics, did heaven fall?
“We didn’t rake in medals but our integrity was intact which is bigger than any medal as far as I am concerned,’’ the Olympians’ president said.
The 2016 Olympics Games is scheduled to begin on August 5 and end on August 21 in Brazil.
