The organizers of the ASF Open Tennis Championship have written an apology letter to the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) over the controversies surrounding the postponement of the competition.
Tennis observers and followers in the country can confirm that the past few days have not be without confusion and disbelief as the much anticipated competition failed to hold.
Initially, the President of the NTF, Engr. Dayo Akindoju, informed Nigeria Tennis Live that the tournament had not been sanctioned, and this was confirmed by the Secretary, Makpa Aliyu, who noted that a few arrangements were still being made.
Aliyu would further appeal for patience as he believed that the organizers were trying their best to make sure they met with all the requirements before the tournament would be made public.
However, in a chat with Dr. Daniel Okara, the representative of the ASF Open competition, Nigeria Tennis Live was reliably informed that the event had to be rescheduled.
READ ALSO: LIES! Players React To Reason ASF Open Organizers Postponed Event
According to him: “Right now, we no options than to postpone the event because we want it to be a proper event which will meet all the requirements of the NTF.”
The players who were already in Abuja were subsequently stranded as a result of the late information and miscommunication about the event.
But on Thursday evening, the ASF Open organizers informed Nigeria Tennis Live that the organizers had sent an apology letter to the NTF over the incident as well as some funds to the players to cushion the effect of the whole drama.
“Each player got at least 5k to help cushion the effect of the situation. As we speak, we are still giving out more money.
“Our representatives left the stadium with the players very comfortable with the development and still eager for the new date to be released.
“A comprehensive letter of apology has gone out to the NTF, players and the tennis community,” messages from their Instagram handle read.
READ ALSO: EXCLUSIVE: ASF Open Organizers Postpone Debut Tournament, Give Reasons
Meanwhile, a video obtained by our correspondent on Thursday evening confirmed that the players got about two hundred thousand naira (N200,000) from the organizers.
Blessing Anuna, who spoke on behalf of the players, noted that “we just want to appreciate the representative for coming to our rescue a little bit.
“Because they only gave us a hundred thousand for the female and a hundred thousand for the men and there is a lot of men, over 30 men and 20 women.
“We just want to thank them that they at least made an effort”.
As at the time of filing this report, Nigeria Tennis Live had yet to sight the apology letter issued by the ASF Open organizers but could confirm that one had been sent to the NTF.