Team Nigeria athletes for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo would camp in Kisarazu City, Japan ahead of the tournament, The Punch report.
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, said this on Tuesday after signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Kisarazu City in Abuja.
Dare said the MoU signed by Nigeria and the Mayor of Kisarazu City, Yoshikuni Watanabe, tallied with the new direction of early preparation for tournaments.
He said, “About three weeks ago, Nigeria started in earnest its Olympics preparations. We had waited for the completion of the Doha Athletics Championships before starting officially our preparations.
“We have less than nine months and where the pre-Games camping will take place is critical to our preparations for Tokyo 2020.
“I’m glad that we are able to follow up on initiatives of previous ministers and ambassadors, who have acted rightly on behalf of this country.”
The minister also commended the Mayor for keeping faith with the proposal initiated under the previous administration, adding that Nigeria with the rest of the world looks forward to Tokyo 2020.
Dare added, “After the MoU, there are still a couple of issues we have to work on together, but the MoU establishes an understanding with the City and also Nigeria.
“We are still coming up with a list of sports that would be camped in Kisarazu, so we will provide needed information going forward.”
Watanabe said, “The city is proud to identify with Nigeria because of its football-loving nature.”
