Okagbare to challenge career-ending ban

NIGERIA’S BLESSING Okagbare has broken her silence on the career-ending 10-year ban dished out by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) on Friday.

According to reports, Okagbare’s lawyers are already studying the decision handed down by the AIU in a bid to formulating next steps.

“My attention has been drawn to the statement issued by the AIU regarding its disciplinary panel decision. My lawyers are currently studying it for our next line of action which we will inform you soon,” Okagbare wrote on Facebook.

The Nigerian sprinter was responding to the decision of the AIU to administer a punishment more than twice the length of the normal maximum for a doping offence.

According to the AIU, the decision for the heavy ban was made because:

“The sole arbitrator adjudicating the case concluded that the athlete’s use of multiple prohibited substances as part of an organised doping regimen in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympic Games was egregious conduct that amounted to aggravating circumstances under the rules, thereby warranting an additional period of ineligibility on top of the standard four-year sanction.”

But that decision only accounted for five of the 10 years Okagbare was given, with AIU adding another five years because the sprinter had refused to cooperate with the organisation’s investigations.

According to the AIU, Okagbare’s refusal to cooperate with the investigation meant the organisation was not able to verify further rule breaches on the part of Okagbare, or to sanction other persons for violations either.