NAN-S-1
Affiliation
By Millicent Ifeanyichukwu
Lagos, Oct. 17, 2017 (NAN) Ahead of the forthcoming World Association of Kickboxing Organisation (WAKO) Championships, the Kickboxing Federation of Nigeria (KBFN) has appealed to the Ministry of Youth and Sports to offset Nigeria’s affiliation fee.
A board member of KBFN, Wilson Okon, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos that the request became necessary to validate its participation in the WAKO Championships.
NAN reports that member countries of WAKO are mandated to pay their yearly fee to retain their membership and to enable them to participate in its championships.
Okon said that efforts were being made to ensure that the nation was represented in the biannual championships holding in Budapest, Hungary from Nov. 3 to Nov. 12.
“The affiliation fee is a requirement to annually renew membership with the international body, but it’s rather unfortunate that Nigeria is defaulting on this and the need to pay has come up.
“We are preparing seriously to take part in the World Championships, but our plans can only be realised if the outstanding affiliation fee is cleared by the sports ministry.
“And this has to be done early enough and before the championships holds so that we can get a confirmation of our participation from WAKO, organisers of the event,’’ he said.
He told NAN that it was part of the requirement by WAKO that the fees must be paid by its affiliate members through bank transfers for the purposes of accountability.
According to him, the sports ministry in early 2017 requested for the affiliation requirement of the numerous international bodies they belong and which the KBFN submitted.
“As a member of WAKO, we are fully aware of its requirements and regulations, especially on the affiliation payment which requires payment by cheque to make everything official,’’ he said.
Okon, who doubles a member of WAKO, added that he was in touch with the international body and that WAKO was still waiting for official payment of the fee by Nigeria. (NAN)
MIL/ERO/PDE
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(Edited by Emmanuel Okara/Peter Ejiofor)