By Ebube Dike

The Minister of youth and sports Development Mr. Sunday Dare has reassured that the February  14th 2021 kick off date for the National  Sports Festival  remains Sacrosanct.

According to the Minister in a release Sunday,  “After the  National Sports Festival in February this year, we will move to the National Youth Games and  continue the build up to the Olympic Games.

“Building quality facilities and engaging good coaches, which are keys to producing World- class athletes, require heavy investment.

“We have asked for  25 percent of the Lottery Fund to come to sports. Jamaica and England give between 31 to 38 Percent of their Lottery Funds to sports, but right now we are getting nothing from the fund.

“We hope to get the approval for the Lottery Fund money in the first quarter of  the year.”

On the adopt-an-athlete initiative, which was  introduced to cater for athletes’ welfare, Dare said it has been  successful so far, assuring that this year,  it would  accommodate more athletes.

“The initiative provides $10, 000 training Funds for home-based athletes, while the  foreign-based  get $20, 000.The money’s goes directly to the athletes, who are expected to use it for  their training, medicals and travels for competitions.

“The benefiting athletes sign MOUs with the adopting companies or individuals so that all the parties are protected.

“The initiative was stalled by the COVID-19 outbreak last year, but more companies have lined up to be part of it. We are looking at an initial 48 athletes benefiting,” Dare concluded.

The 2020 National Sports Festival, NSF which suffered several postponements in the previous year was finally scheduled to hold from February 14 to 28, 2021.

The festival will hold in Edo, Benin State capital.