Turkey to appeal Ofili ruling at CAS

Turkey will appeal World Athletics’ decision to block Nigerian sprinter Favour Ofili’s transfer of allegiance, with the case set to be heard before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, PUNCH Sport Extra reports.

The move follows Thursday’s ruling by the World Athletics Nationality Review Panel, which rejected an application by the Türkiye Athletics Federation to switch Ofili’s nationality from Nigeria to Turkey, citing concerns over the integrity of international competition and athlete recruitment practices.

According to Jamaican veteran journalist Kayon Raynor, Turkish authorities are already preparing a legal challenge to the decision.

“Turkey will be appealing the decision by World Athletics to turn down the transfer of allegiance applications of 11 athletes, and they will also take the appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports, CAS,” Raynor wrote on X.

The World Athletics panel had ruled that Ofili’s case was not an isolated request but part of a wider, coordinated recruitment strategy involving 11 athletes across multiple countries.

The group included five Kenyans: Brigid Kosgei, Brian Kibor, Ronald Kwemoi, Nelvin Jepkemboi and Catherine Relin Amanang’ole, four Jamaicans: Jaydon Hibbert, Rajindra Campbell, Wayne Pinnock and Rojé Stona, and Russian athlete Sophia Yakushina.

All 11 applications were rejected, with the panel concluding that the initiative, backed by the Turkish government, was designed to recruit established international athletes through lucrative contracts in a bid to strengthen its team ahead of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

The panel determined that such a model undermines core principles of the sport, including the credibility of national representation and the need for countries to invest in developing their own athletes.

It warned that allowing the transfers would incentivise nationality changes driven primarily by financial considerations rather than genuine national ties.

“The Application by the TAF for Favour OFILI (the ‘Athlete’) to transfer allegiance from NGR to TUR is not approved,” the panel stated.

The ruling means Ofili and the other affected athletes are not eligible to represent Turkey in major international competitions, including the Olympic Games and World Championships, although they remain free to compete in one-day meetings or at the club level.

Following the decision, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria moved quickly to welcome Ofili back, with its president Tonobok Okowa calling for unity and support around the athlete.

He emphasised that the priority should be to provide the right environment for her to succeed, adding that what she needs most is “love, support, encouragement and more love.”

Former AFN president Solomon Ogba also backed the World Athletics ruling, praising the leadership of Sebastian Coe and describing the outcome as a victory for fairness in global sport.

He said, “I want to specially thank the president of World Athletics, Sebastian Coe, a true friend of developing countries, members of the panel and the World Athletics family for standing with the truth.”

Ogba criticised the practice of wealthier nations recruiting athletes developed elsewhere, arguing that it undermines the efforts of countries that invest in nurturing talent at the grassroots level.

He said it was unfair for a nation to develop an athlete over many years only for another country to “come with bags full of money and snatch the athlete.”

The case is now expected to proceed to CAS, where Turkey will seek to overturn the ruling in what could become a landmark decision on the regulation of nationality transfers in athletics.