Sports

World Archery Federation writes NAF on fair play

Ahead of the planned congress and elections of the Nigerian Archery Federation (NAF), the World Archery Federation has warned NAF against disenfranchising key stakeholders in the exercise.

This is coming on the heels of an alleged plot to shift the venue of the congress to make it difficult for some stakeholders to be part of the exercise.

A letter addressed to the NAF Secretary General by the Secretary General of the World Archery Federation, Tom Dielen, warned against conflict of interest and any attempt to exclude key players from participating in the congress leading to the election.

“We have received from several sources potential non-respect of the constitution of your national federation, as well as a potential conflict of interest that could put in question the good governance of the national federation.

“In particular, the venue of the general assembly was changed by you after the initial invitation. This violates article 11.5, which states that an annual general meeting and a meeting for the passing of a resolution amending this constitution shall be called by giving 21 working days’ notice at least. A meeting of the federation other than an annual general meeting or a meeting for the passing of a resolution amending this constitution shall be called by giving at least 14
working days’ notice in writing.

“11.6 states that the notices shall be exclusive of the day on which it is given and shall specify the place, the date, time and agenda of the meeting.”

Dielen said: “Furthermore, the location of the meeting originally scheduled was at the national archery event, which makes sense but now has been called somewhere else, which would not allow for the clubs to be present (sic).

“World Archery and World Archery Africa wants an immediate clarification on the matter and will not recognise the outcome of any election should there be no proper explanation.”

He added that the alleged decision to allow a presidential candidate to cover the costs of the new venue is a clear conflict of interest, which is not acceptable under good governance principles.

“We hope that the information given to us is not correct and the matter can be resolved without having to put in question the governance of your federation,” he said, adding, “We have received information that you will send an observer to the general assembly of the NAFED, which will hold tomorrow in Abuja.

Since there is a clear conflict between the president and the secretary general of the Archery Federation; for us it is quite difficult to assess the situation, as well being too late to send an observer, we copy you on an email we sent this morning to the NAFED president and we ask your observer to send us as soon as possible a report of your observer. For World Archery it is critical that the constitution is followed and that the athletes of Nigeria are protected.”

The elective congress was earlier scheduled for Lagos.

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