Nigerian sprinter Favour Ofili has reportedly switched her national allegiance to Turkey, just three months before the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
This news was initially reported by Jamaica-based journalist Kayon Raynor.
Raynor announced via X (formerly Twitter) that the 22-year-old Ofili informed the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of her frustration with the Nigerian Athletics Federation (AFN) as of May 31, 2025.
According to Raynor, the 150m world record holder cited two main reasons for her decision: missing the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games due to the AFN’s failure to confirm her doping control tests and being unable to compete in the 100m event at the last Paris Olympics because the AFN did not register her.
She did, however, place sixth in the 200m final at the Paris Games. Raynor also noted that Ofili emphasised to the AIU that her switch to Turkey was not financially motivated.
PUNCH Online has attempted to contact both Ofili and the AFN for comment, but neither has responded at the time of this report. World Athletics’ official profile still lists Ofili as a Nigerian athlete.
Ofili is one of Nigeria’s qualified athletes for the World Championships, scheduled for September 13 to 21 in Tokyo. She recently made history in May at the Adidas Atlanta City Games, setting a new world record in the 150m with a time of 15.85 seconds, surpassing Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo’s previous mark of 16.23 seconds.
The Turkish athletics body has been actively recruiting athletes this year, including Jamaicans, and reportedly offers as much as $500,000 for foreign athletes to switch allegiance.
Nigeria has a history of administrative lapses that have led numerous talented athletes, such as Francis Obikwelu (Portugal), Gloria Alozie (Spain), and Femi Ogunode (Qatar), to represent other nations, often achieving significant international success.
