Somalia suspends sports official for nepotism after video of untrained athlete at international event goes viral

A sports authority official in Somalia was on Wednesday suspended over allegations of nepotism after a video, showing an apparent novice runner skipping across the finish line in last place at an international competition, went viral on social media.

The clip showed Nasra Abukar Ali from Somalia competing in a women's 100-metre race at the 31st Summer World University Games in Chengdu, China. Ali reportedly took about 21 seconds to complete the race.

In the video shared on X (formerly Twitter) by Elham Garaad, it could be seen that while other female athletes prepared for the race and took the stance before the start, Ali struggled to do even that. Moreover, when the buzzer rang, the crouching athletes raced ahead, leaving Ali far behind. While the other athletes quickly finished the race, Ali could be seen jumping on the track in between and taking her own time to finish the race.

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“The Ministry of Youth and Sports should step down. It's disheartening to witness such an incompetent government. How could they select an untrained girl to represent Somalia in running? It's truly shocking and reflects poorly on our country internationally,” read the caption.

Her post soon went viral, with many users taking to the platform and roasting the athlete for her performance.

Meanwhile, Garaad, while replying to a comment on her post, also stated, "That's the niece of the President of the Somali Athletics Federation. What you expecting? Nepotism; we have good athletes in Somalia but when it comes to (money emojis) is a different story."

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Somalia said it had suspended Khadijo Aden Dahir, the chairwoman of the Somali Athletics Federation. In a letter posted on X, the ministry said that Ms Dahir engaged in "acts of abuse of power, nepotism, and defaming the name of the nation in international arena".

The letter also stated that Ali was not a “sports person nor a runner.”

The letter added that the ministry intends to “pursue legal action against both the Chairman of the Athletics Federation of Somalia and individuals responsible for falsification of the Somali University Sports Association.”

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