The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare, has approved the payment of money into the accounts of Nigerian athletes to mitigate the effects of Coronavirus lockdown on them.
Special Adviser to the Minister on Media, Mr. John Joshua-Akanji, made the disclosure in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
Dare said the payments, which kicked off on April 29, was part of the N10 million donated by Remo Stars Chairman Kunle Soname and one million naira dropped by an unnamed philanthropist to serve as take-off of the athletes’ relief fund.
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“The sum of N50,000 is being paid into the accounts of each of the athletes from the Central Bank of Nigeria account of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development,’’ the minister disclosed.
Recalled that the Minister had floated a relief fund for athletes whose sources of income were disrupted following the suspension of sporting activities across the world as a result of the coronavirus.
Recall also that the world athletics governing body had recently floated a $500 million appeal fund to assist athletes in the wake of the suspension of major sporting activities worldwide.
