A Somali athletics official has been suspended and will be subject to legal proceedings after an untrained and non-athlete runner was sent to a competition in China, the country’s Ministry of Youth and Sports said Wednesday.
Video that went viral showed the woman far outclassed, and not even in the frame with the other runners almost immediately after the race began. The woman finished the race about 10 seconds behind the winner.
The embarrassing incident at the World University Games in China has resulted in the suspension of Khadijo Aden Dahir, the chairwoman of the Somali Athletics Federation, the sport ministry said.
Dahir is accused of “abuse of power, nepotism, and defaming the name of the nation” in the international arena, the ministry said in a statement posted on social media. The ministry said the woman in the race is not a runner.
There have been allegations the woman was a relative of Dahir’s and was given the chance to compete because of it, The Associated Press reported.
Minister of Youth and Sports Mohamed Barre Mohamud apologized and said his ministry did not know how the 20-year-old was selected to compete in the 100-meter race, the AP reported.
The Association of Somali Universities said in a statement that it did not send any runners to compete in the event.
The FISU World University Games is for student-athletes and is held every two years. This year, it is being held in Chengdu.
The Associated Press contributed.
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