Nigeria’s Sports Minister ‘intervenes’ in Osimhen, Amusan’s cases

• Osimhen was mocked in a TikTok video by Napoli’s official following his penalty miss against Bologna
• Minister also contacted Nigerian celebrated athlete, Tobi Amusan

Minister of Sports Development, Sen John Enoh, said he has started making efforts to resolve the issue between Nigeria’s Super Eagles forward, Victor Osimhen and his Italian club side, Napoli.

Recall that Osimhen was mocked in a TikTok video by Napoli’s official following his penalty miss against Bologna in a goalless match days ago.

Osimhen exhibited frustration twice when he was substituted by his manager, Rudi Garcia, and also removed all of Napoli’s pictures from his Instagram account.

The sports minister said he was sad over the issue, saying he had made contact with Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Maitama Tuggar and the Nigerian ambassador to Italy, Mfawa Abam, to resolve the matter.

Enoh made this known on his X account on Thursday, adding that he also contacted Nigerian celebrated athlete, Tobi Amusan, last week.

“Over the past weekend, the news coming out of Napoli concerning Super Eagles player -Victor Osimhen saddened me greatly. The travails of Tobi Amusan have been no less so—the reason I made efforts to reach her directly last week,” Enoh wrote.

“My office is trying to reach Victor Osimhen directly as well to understand first-hand the issues. We are committed to establishing the facts of the matter.

“Meanwhile, I am in touch with the Honorable Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Yusuf Maitama Tuggar and the Nigerian Ambassador to the Republic of Italy, Ambassador Mfawa Abam.

“Together, we are employing Diplomatic avenues with Italy for a more proper approach to looking into the matter as it is.

“Under the present administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we are committed to ensuring our sportsmen and women are accorded the respect they deserve and are not exposed to any injustice.

“Upon assumption of office, I made it abundantly clear, in words and deeds, that the welfare of our athletes, be they home-based or international-based, would be our topmost priority as we create the environment that enables and ensures their continued success.”