The Government of Somalia has established that an athlete who took part in the 100 metres race at the Summer World University Games in China was not a professional sportsperson.
As a result, Sports Minister Mohamed Bare Mohamud has sacked the head of Somalia’s athletics agency, Khadija Adan Dahir, who he accuses of “abusing her power to field an unprofessional athlete.”
“Her (Dahir’s) actions caused the country widespread embarrassment,” Mohamud said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The ministry has established that Nasra Abukar Ali, who represented the nation at the university games in China was neither a professional athlete nor a university student,” added Mohamud.
More investigations
The minister says further investigations are underway to establish whether there are more athletes who were dishonestly chosen to represent Somalia at the world games.
Earlier Wednesday, Somali social media users criticised national sports authorities for nepotism and corruption in the selection process.
Nasra Abukar Ali, 20, finished the 100-metre race in 21 seconds, with netizens terming her the “worst athlete” at the 31st Summer World University Games in Chengdu, China.
Some Somalia citizens took to social media to criticise the sports ministry for sending an “untrained” athlete to a high-profile event.
