Nigeria: Banned Nigerian Athlete, Gloria Asunmu, Apologises to AFN

Nigerian sprinter, Gloria Asunmu, is said to have apologized to the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) for her act of indiscretion which embarrassed the federation during the Moscow 2014 IAAF World Championships in Athletics. While a press statement from AFN Head of Communication and Media, Olukayode Thomas, reeled out the content of Asunmu's apology letter, nothing was said on the six-month ban earlier slammed on the Houston,Texas based sprinter in the wake of her earlier actions. In Asunmu's letter, the sprinter said she was sorry for her comments and actions made during and/or after the World Championships held inMoscow, Russia. She claimed her actions were not in any way meant to be intentionallydisruptive or offensive. "During my meeting with the disciplinary committee at this year'sWorld Championships, I issued a verbal apology. Further, not only did I comply with the request made at said meeting to 'clean up my social media wall', I also issued a public apology on my social media page. That said, I hereby apologize once again to the AFN and to all of the Moscow team/officials for any unruly behavior on my part". On her refusal to participate in the 4x100m relay, Asunmu stated that she suffered a hamstring injury while competing in the 100m semi-finals race "I underwent examination and daily rehabilitative treatment in an effort to improve my readiness for the relay. Unfortunately my recuperation did not progress as quickly as hoped and as such, the final decision to withdraw myself from the relay was made solely to avoid further injury. Kindly accept my apology for any inconvenience/disruption caused to the AFN and the team," she said. The AFN Technical Director and Chairman Technical Committee, Omatseye Nesiama, urged athletes at all to make discipline their watch word: "Athletes are role models and they must be good ambassadors at all times. The federation will not hesitate to discipline any unruly athlete after fair hearing, while those that are good ambassadors of the federation and Nigeria will be celebrated", he said.