The member caretaker committee of Nigeria Weightlifting Federation, Lawrence Iquaibom said various associations in the country will have access to modern weightlifting equipment to train their athletes.
The International Weightlifting referee told www.aclsports.com that the federation is in talks with weightlifting manufacturers outside the country and distribution will begin once the deal is concluded.
The former Commonwealth Champion said the federation will start with a zone from each geopolitical zone before nationwide distributions begins.
He said, “The Federation is aware that without equipment, the athletes cannot be discovered and nurtured, we are in contact with sports manufactures outside the country and we hope that in the nearest future, they will be able to bring some set of equipment that will be distributed to some states.
“The first phase of the distribution will be done one state per zone while the second phase will encompass other states”.
The former Akwa Ibom Director of Sports disclosed that the Local Organising Committee of the Champion of Champions National Weightlifting Championship has concluded that the Championship will be biannual.
He said, “We selected these athletes from the results of the National Sports Festival. We are looking at having it after every NSF and it the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports secures biannually, that means the Champion of Champions will be every two years”.
“Ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Nigeria Weightlifting Federation has not secured any training tours outside the country. What we are doing as a federation is to ensure the athletes are camped before major championships”, he said.