By Admin
As Nigeria joins the world in celebrating International Day for Sports Development and Peace, the President of Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVBF), Engineer Musa Nimrod has urged volleyball players to keep all hope alive during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nimrod advised volleyball athletes to abide by guidelines laid down by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
Nimrod also urged the athletes to continue to keep fit in their respective locations, adding that there might be a bombardment of competitions immediately the COVID-19 comes to an end.
Nimrod said, “Nigeria Volleyball players must continue to keep hope alive amidst this COVID-19 pandemic. We are in trying times and the athletes must pray for its leaders daily.
“The Federal Government has declared total lockdown in Abuja and Lagos and Ogun states, while some states have declared partial lockdown, in order to curtail the spread of the virus. This means the volleyball family must abide by the guidelines laid down by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) like washing of hands regularly and other recommendations.
“Since stadia have been closed by the Federal Government of Nigeria, volleyball players must keep active in their various homes because there might be a bombardment of national competitions, international tournaments, as well as Olympic qualifiers”.
Nimrod commended the minister of sports, Sunday Dare for having been very active during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the minister of Sports has shown to the world that he is capable of piloting the affairs of sports in Nigeria.
Nimrod said, “You will agree with me that the sports minister is playing a vital role in the fight against COVID-19. He always sensitizes the athletes and has recently released some sports facilities as centres to cater for patients across the Federation”.
Reacting to the request for the cancellation of the 2020 Tokyo Games beach volleyball Africa qualifier results held in Nigeria by Kenya Volleyball Federation, Nimrod said the decisions of Confederation of Africa Volleyball (CAVB) and International Olympic Committee (IOC) stands.
Nimrod said the President of CAVB, Amr Elwani had declared that the outcome of three that had already been played would remain which also includes the qualifiers held in Nigeria.
Speaking on CAVB’s YouTube channel Elwani said, “CAVB agreed to stop and postpone all upcoming activities and competitions even the Continental Cup events until further notice. This decision came in the best interest of all the parties considering that the health of the athletes, officials and fans is to be given top priority by all sporting authorities”.
