The National Sports Commission (NSC) has disqualified six registered athletes from competing at the ongoing 22nd National Sports Festival (NSF) in Ogun.

In a statement on Tuesday by Kehinde Ajayi, NSC media director, the commission said the athletes’ disqualification was due to “doping issues”, which is “in line with global best practices and the World Anti-Doping Agency ( WADA) code.”

The disqualified athletes are Ogunsemilore Cynthia representing Bayelsa state in kickboxing, Omole Dolapo Joshua representing Bayelsa state in kickboxing, Ayabeke David Opeyemi representing Bayelsa state in Gymnastics, Kareem Shukurat representing Lagos state in kickboxing and Animashaun Sofia representing Lagos state in para powerlifting.

Bukola Olopade, the director-general of NSC, advised all the participating states to take note of this and reiterated the commission’s commitment to ensuring that every athlete competes very clean.

“The issue of anti-doping is one important mandate of the Commission to ensure that Nigeria is devoid of drug problems at both domestic and international competitions,” he said.

“We are happy now that the National anti-doping law has finally been passed by our Sports-loving President, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, and the ripple effect of such a landmark feat must swiftly be felt in our Sports, starting with the current Sports Festival.”

The 22nd National Sports Festival holds in Ogun state from May 16 to 30.