World Athletics said on Thursday that it rejected the applications of eleven athletes who sought to change their nationalities and competition affiliation to Turkey.
Among the athletes are five Olympic medalists and according to the governing body, the attempt to lure the group drew immediate attention during the transfer process and was ultimately flagged.
“The panel found that the applications formed part of a coordinated recruitment strategy led by the Türkiye government acting through a wholly‑owned and financed government club, to attract overseas athletes through lucrative contracts, with the aim of facilitating transfers of allegiance and enabling those athletes to represent Türkiye at future international competitions, including the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games,” a statement read.
The group of athletes include:
Catherine Relin Amanang’ole (Kenya)
Rajindra Campbell (Jamaica)
Jaydon Hibbert (Jamaica)
Brian Kibor (Kenya)
Brigid Kosgei (Kenya)
Ronald Kwemoi (Kenya)
Nelvin Jepkemboi (Kenya)
Favour Ofili (Nigeria)
Wayne Pinnock (Jamaica)
Rojé Stona (Jamaica)
Sophia Yakushina (Russia)
Kosgei won silver in the marathon at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, while the other four athletes all won medals at the 2024 Games in Paris, with Campbell getting bronze in the shot put bronze, Kwemoi taking the 5,000m silver, Pinnock winning the long jump silver and Stona got gold in the discus.
World Athletic said it noticed similar patterns in all of the transfer applications, which was a major factor in denying all eleven athletes.
“Given the common features across the applications, the panel assessed them together and determined that such an approach is inconsistent with the core principles of the regulations,” the report said. “These principles are designed to safeguard the credibility of international competition, encourage Member Federations to invest in the development of domestic talent and maintain confidence among athletes that national teams are not primarily assembled through external recruitment.”
Ofili has previously expressed widely-publicized frustrations with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria since the 2024 Paris Games when administrative errors prevented her from running the women’s 100m even though she met the qualifying standard. She competed in the 200m final and finished sixth and was part of the women’s 4x100m relay team that did not advance past the opening rounds.
But when Ofili learned that Nigerian officials did not submit her for the 100m, she spoke out against the ordeal on social media and the nation’s Investigative Committee launched an inquiry — ruling in favor of Ofili and she was awarded $5,000.
The AFN still claimed it submitted Ofili 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay and accused her of being “uncontrollable” in a report in Nigerian publication The Guardian after she allegedly refused to stay with the federation’s group at the 2022 world championships in Eugene and did not train with other Nigerian athletes before the 2023 world championships in Budapest.
Following World Athletics’ decision on Thursday, AFN officials said the organization would welcome Ofili back to compete for Nigeria.
