Sprinter, Favour Ofili Dumps Nigeria For Turkey

By Akinwale Kasali

Favour Ofili, World 150 Meters Record holder and Nigeria’s sprint sensation has dumped her country of origin for Turkey.

Ofili is dumping Nigeria less than three months to the 2025 World Athletics Championship to be held in Tokyo.

It was gathered that Ofili switched her athletic allegiance to Turkey having complained about the way the nation’s Athletics Federation is being run. She, also, said she was unfairly treated.

The 22-year-old’s nationality-switch was first reported by Jamaica-based journalist, Kayon Raynor, who announced on social media platform X (former Twitter) that Ofili completed the process May 31, 2025.

Citing sources at TVJ News Centre, Raynor said Ofili informed the Athletics Integrity Unit, AIU, of her growing frustration with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN, and the Nigeria Olympic Committee, NOC.

“She has switched allegiance to Turkey as of May 31. She complained to the Athletics Integrity Unit about how she was unfairly treated by Nigerian officials,” Raynor posted.

Ofili reportedly pointed to a series of administrative lapses, including her controversial omission from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics due to delayed doping test confirmations and her exclusion from the 100m event at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

She only competed in the 200m in Paris, finishing sixth in the final.

Though she has yet to issue an official statement, Ofili is said to have clarified that her decision was not driven by financial incentives.

However, Sources noted that Turkey has recently stepped up efforts to recruit elite athletes globally, reportedly offering incentives as high as $500,000 to secure top talent.

Ofili, an LSU alumna, gained global attention in May when she shattered the 150m world record at the Adidas Atlanta City Games, clocking 15.85 seconds to break the 16.23-second record previously held by Olympic champion, Shaunae Miller-Uibo.

Despite the reported switch, Ofili still appears as a Nigerian athlete on the World Athletics database at the time of this report.