Nigeria’s Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare has declared that this year’s edition of the Olympic Games slated to hold in Tokyo, Japan will not be a jamboree as only athletes with prospects will represent the country.

Dare, who decried the dwindling state of football in the country, charged the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to do more to improve the sport in the country.

The Sports Minister made this declaration during a meeting with the Ministerial Advisory Committee and presidents of sports Federations that will represent Nigeria at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Media Centre of the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja.

He stated that the meeting was aimed at preventing a repeat of the last two Olympics where Nigeria won only bronze medal in men’s football, especially, Rio 2016 Olympics where Nigeria won only one bronze medal in men’s football.

The Minister stressed the need for a functional synergy between the Ministry and the Federations with a view to ensuring that Nigerian athletes make the country proud at the Olympics.

“It is important we meet and have a time frame. We need to be on the same page to prepare for the Olympics. We are going to create a feedback system beyond this meeting and we are going to have a similar meeting down the road to ensure the smooth running of our Olympics participation,” Dare said.

“This is not going to be a jamboree where we participate for the sake of it. We are going to present only athletes with the best prospects of winning medal. We have engaged a scientific approach to monitoring the athletes. We would not compromise standard.”

The Secretary of the Ministerial Advisory Committee, the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), and the Paralympic Committee of Nigeria made presentations to the Minister on the state of preparedness in theri respective areas.

Among the issues deliberated upon at the meeting include the lists of athletes that have qualified and those yet to qualify, the mandatory sports to be entered, budgetary allocation, funding and accreditation processes.