Former British high jumper Mike Edwards has been denied the opportunity to present Nigeria at the 2018 Commonwealth games.

The 27 years old represented Britain at the European Junior Championships in 2009, accused the IAAF of cowardice with the rules of athletics’ governing body set to bar him from representing Nigeria at the Commonwealth Games.

Edward arrived Gold Coast as part of the Nigerian team but is ineligible to compete.

The Manchester-born who has a Nigerian mother and citizenship has never represented Nigeria before protested against ineligibility with a homemade sign in the Athletes Village at Gold Coast.

“It was nine years ago – it is a worse sentence than a drug cheat gets,” he told BBC Sport.

“I am walking around the village with my Nigerian kit and unsure if I can even walk in the stadium and represent.

“It is nearly a decade since I last competed in an international championship, I feel I am being robbed of that opportunity right in front of my eyes.

“I am willing to protest every day in the village. I will do it until I receive a call from [IAAF president] Seb Coe. If he can’t do that he is a coward.

“As a fellow athlete, he can’t hide behind his desk – that is heartless.”

Athletes in the past have had the opportunity to transferred nationalities.

The likes of Ramil Guliyev competed at the same European Junior Championships as Edwards in 2009 winning gold for Azerbaijan but took the world 200m title in London last year under the Turkish flag.

However, the process for switching nations was stopped in February 2017 with the IAAF citing concerns over the exploitation of young African athletes and has not resumed.

Source: http://hotsportstv.com/high-jumper-mike-edward-barred-from-representing-nigeria/

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