LAGOS, Nigeria — Nigeria’s National Sports Commission (NSC) may be preparing to temporarily “block” sprinter Favour Ofili from switching allegiance to compete for Turkey.

According to the Nigerian news agency, The Guardian, the potential move to block Ofili’s nationality switch followed revelations from Nigerian sprint legend Mary Onyali about turning down four offers to represent other countries during her career.

The report noted that Ofili, regarded as one of her generation’s best sprinters, announced last year that she was switching allegiance to Turkey, describing the move as a blow to Nigerian athletics.

However, the report says a top official of the NSC recently told The Guardian that the sprinter remains a Nigerian athlete.

“Ofili remains our athlete,” the official said. “She was among the elite athletes who were paid training grants by the NSC last year, and it is not possible for her to switch allegiance to Turkey. If Ofili wants to compete for another country, she will have to wait until September 2028. That is the simple truth. We took our time to study the situation and have written to World Athletics to explain our stand regarding Ofili’s nationality switch.”

The sprinter is the current national record holder in the 200m. She has represented Nigeria at major global events, including the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires (2019), the World Athletics Championships in Doha (2019) and Budapest (2023), the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham (2022), and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Ofili also represented her country at multiple African championships, the report said, and according to the NSC official, she is still expected to fly Nigeria’s flag at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.