World Athletics has formally rejected Nigerian sprinter Favour Ofili’s application to transfer her international allegiance from Nigeria to Turkey. The decision was issued by the World Athletics Nationality Review Panel, comprising Donna Raynor, Cydonie Motherskill and Susanne van Waert, who ruled that the application submitted by the Türkiye Athletics Federation would not be approved after reviewing the circumstances surrounding the request. The panel found that granting the application would undermine key regulatory principles guiding international athletics.

Ofili’s case was not an isolated one. The ruling was part of a wider set of decisions in which the panel refused 11 transfer of allegiance applications, finding that they formed part of a coordinated recruitment strategy led by the Turkish government, acting through a wholly-owned and government-financed club, to attract overseas athletes through lucrative contracts to enable those athletes to represent Turkey at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. Among those also rejected were 2024 Olympic discus champion Roje Stona, shot putter Rajindra Campbell, triple jumper Jaydon Hibbert and long jumper Wayne Pinnock of Jamaica, as well as Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei, Ronald Kwemoi, Brian Kibor, Catherine Relin Amanang’ole, and Nelvin Jepkemboi.

The panel clarified that while the transfer is not approved, Ofili remains free to compete in international meetings in a personal or club capacity and may continue to live and train in Turkey if she chooses.

For Ofili, the ruling arrives after a saga rooted in deep frustration with Nigerian athletics administration. The sprinter missed the Paris 2024 Olympic Games when the Athletics Federation of Nigeria failed to enter her name for the women’s 100m, a devastating repeat of what happened at the Tokyo 2020 Games, where she and 12 other athletes were barred from competing after the federation and anti-doping authorities failed to meet the required drug testing protocols. She argued that her decision to seek a switch was motivated by these longstanding disputes with Nigerian athletics authorities and by personal safety concerns.

Ofili is one of Nigeria’s most accomplished sprinters in recent years, holding the Nigerian 200m record of 21.96 seconds and the world record in the 150m after clocking 15.85 seconds in 2025, becoming the first woman to run the distance in under 16 seconds. She also holds a personal best of 10.87 seconds in the 100m.

Nigeria’s government had actively opposed the move. The National Sports Commission formally wrote to World Athletics to block the transfer, arguing that Ofili had received training grants in 2025 while representing Nigeria. The Athletics Federation of Nigeria, for its part, has called on stakeholders to now focus on providing the right environment for Ofili to thrive, with federation president Tonobok Okowa stressing that what she needs most is “love, support, encouragement and more love.”

The broader picture painted by the panel’s ruling is a significant rebuke of Turkey’s aggressive pre-LA 2028 strategy. Turkey had signed athletes to contracts running until October 2032 and offered monthly salaries ranging from $3,000 to $7,000 alongside generous medal bonuses, with the entire programme framed around building a competitive athletics team for the home continent Games. World Athletics has now made clear that financial inducement as the primary driver of a nationality switch is not a basis it will approve, regardless of how the arrangements are packaged.

What Happens Next

The ruling is not necessarily the final word. Under World Athletics regulations, decisions of the Nationality Review Panel can be challenged before the Court of Arbitration for Sport — the independent tribunal that handles appeals in international sports disputes. Should Ofili or the Türkiye Athletics Federation choose to pursue that route, a CAS panel would review the case independently and could uphold, modify, or overturn the original decision. No appeal has been announced as of publication, and Ofili has not yet publicly commented on the ruling.