DALUNG, DELEGATION INSPECT RIO FACILITIES

The Minister of Youth and Sports Barrister Solomon Dalung has described his delegation’s visit to Rio, venue of the forthcoming Olympic Games as indispensable .

Barrister Dalung made the remark after a three day visit of facilities in Rio to be used by Nigerian athletes during the games.

A five man delegation comprising the minister, President and Secretary General of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, Engr Habu Gumel and Tunde Popoola, as well as the Director General of the National Sports Commission Alhassan Yakmut and the Director Federations and Elite Athletes Department Mrs Hauwa-Kulu Akinyemi had visited facilities and the games village where Nigerian athletes will be residing throughout the games.

According to the Minister, the visit was necessary to enable the ministry to plan ahead for the games.

“Nigeria will be taking part in just a few sports and the venues are scattered all over Rio. Our visit to the various venues, some of which are ninety percent ready, was very essential to enable us to plan for our athletes. What we saw gave us a first hand information on what to expect in terms of movement, arrivals, accreditation and distance between games venues and athletes village as well as mode of transportation”.

The delegation which was also scheduled for inspection of facilities with the Malaysian delegation visited the Riocentro Convention Centre which will host Badminton, table tennis and weightlifting events as well as the Carioca Arena 1&2 which will host basketball, judo and wrestling.

The delegation also visited the Maracana Stadium which will host the opening and closing ceremonies and football matches
and the Olympic Stadium for track and field events.

HON Minister For Youths And Sports BARR Solomon Dalung Leads Nigerian Delegation on Inspection of Rio 2016 Facilities photo credit Nneka Ikem Anibeze

On the last day, there were presentations on NOC relations and services, sports entries, arrival and departure of athletes and officials, accommodation, ticketing, accreditation, hospitality House, medical services and dignitaries.

The Rio Olympic Games start from August 5 – 21 2016. More than 10,500 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees, including Kosovo and South Sudan for the first time, will take part in the 31st Olympiad.

Nigeria will compete in athletics, canoeing, table tennis, men’s football, wrestling, power lifting and men’s basketball.

Olympic Football Tournaments: Draw To Be Held On 14 April At Maracana

The iconic Maracana stadium will host the draw for the Olympic Football Tournaments 2016 on 14 April 2016, ahead of hosting the men’s and women’s finals of the Olympic Football Tournaments Rio 2016 on 19 and 20 August respectively.

Maracana Stadium

The stadium’s auditorium will see the groups drawn for Rio 2016’s men’s and women’s football tournaments, with the event scheduled to kick off at 10.30 local time (15.30 CET).

The 16 teams in the men’s tournament, including hosts Brazil and 2012 champions Mexico, will be drawn into four groups, and the 12 women’s teams, including hosts Brazil and 2012 champions USA, will be drawn into three groups.

Just one spot remains in the men’s tournament, with Colombia and USA playing off in March to complete the line-up. In the women’s tournament, the final five teams to qualify will all be known by 9 March 2016.

Maracana Stadium
photo credit: Brazilian Government
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/br/legalcode

As well as Rio de Janeiro, the home of the 2016 Olympic Games, the five other host cities for the football tournaments (Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Manaus, Salvador and Sao Paulo) are eagerly awaiting the draw to see who they will welcome to their regions. Each of the co-host cities are keen to replicate the remarkable hospitality shown during the 2014 FIFA World Cup™.​