BY ADEYEMI ROBINSON-ADEFIOYE LAGOS
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President, THOMAS BACH will rekindle his heyday in fencing as he is scheduled to feature in an exhibition match as part of programmes lined up for his two-day visit to Nigeria.
The world number one sports administrator will be at Nigerian capital Abuja from Nov 13-14 with the primary assignment of commissioning the Headquarters of the ASSOCIATION OF NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES OF AFRICA (ANOCA)
German Bach, 65, is a former Olympics champion in fencing winning the team foil event for West Germany at the Montreal Games in Canada in 1976 and the Nigerian Fencing Federation are using the privilege to promote and develop the sport in the country.
Nigerian Fencing boss, ADEYINKA SAMUEL, disclosed Thursday that being an Olympic champion, BACH is interested in fencing to develop further in Nigeria as the country has been making giant strides since it’s hosting of the African fencing championships in Lagos last year.
“The IOC President, being a former Olympic fencing champion is interested in the sport to be popular in Nigeria and we will be doing a display for him and he will also be fencing to round off the exhibition,” he said.
SAMUEL pointed that fencing is a multi-medal (42 medals) Olympic sport and envisaged that with adequate backing, Nigeria would be among the top 10 fencing countries within a decade.
