Nigeria for WTF World Championships in Russia

The Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF) says three experienced athletes led by 2008 Olympics bronze medalist, Chika Chukwumerije, will fly Nigeria’s flag at the World Taekwondo Championships in Russia.
The international tournament is scheduled to hold from May 12 to May 18, in Chelyabinsk, Russia.
A statement by the NTF on Sunday said that the three athletes were expected to garner points at the tournament for their final qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil.
It also said that U.S.-based Saturday Bashir and France-based Murtala Mohammed would be on duty on the first day of the tournament at Traktor Arena in Chelyabinsk.
The statement quoted George Ashiru, President of NTF, as saying that Nigeria, in the build up to the tournament, experienced some challenges.
Ashiru, according to the statement, said that the NTF had expected to “camp our athletes for two months prior to the rescheduled Sports Festival to test run and then pick the athletes that possessed ability for this tournament.”
“ None of these opportunities were afforded us. So, training was informal open camp and some bureaucratic bottlenecks also affected our push for sponsorship of the full national team,’’ it quoted Ashiru as saying.
According to the statement, some top African countries like Gabon, Egypt, Cote d’Ivoire and Tunisia are also using the tournament to beef up preparations for the forthcoming All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville.