The green-and-white flag is about to fly excessive once more — this time in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as Crew Nigeria gears up for battle on the sixth Islamic Solidarity Video games, holding from November 7 to 21, 2025.
With a 46-member contingent, 35 athletes and 11 officers, the nation’s greatest will compete in seven sports activities, together with athletics, para athletics, para powerlifting, weightlifting, wrestling, boxing, and taekwondo.
Based on the Director Normal of the Nationwide Sports activities Fee (NSC), Honourable Bukola Olopade, the Video games are extra than simply one other worldwide outing — they’re a strategic stepping stone towards the 2028 Olympic Video games in Los Angeles.
“It’s a part of our Nationwide Sports activities Fee’s strategic planning for the Olympics,” Olopade mentioned confidently.
“The Islamic Solidarity Video games characterize an awesome alternative for Nigeria to showcase our expertise on the worldwide stage — and we imagine this group has what it takes to excel.”
Already, the Crew Nigeria camp in Abuja is buzzing with vitality and dedication. The advance occasion will depart on November 1, setting the tone for what guarantees to be an exciting marketing campaign within the desert kingdom.
The boxing group would be the first to get into the ring, with fights starting on November 4, three days earlier than the grand opening ceremony.
This 12 months’s Video games — that includes 21 sports activities and two para-sports — carry collectively athletes from throughout the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states.
It should additionally mark Saudi Arabia’s second time internet hosting the occasion, 20 years after the inaugural version in 2005.
For Nigeria, the mission is evident: to compete, conquer, and proceed the march towards Olympic greatness.
Because the countdown begins, the desert winds of Riyadh might quickly carry echoes of victory chants from the Nigerian camp — as a result of for Crew Nigeria, the journey to Los Angeles 2028 begins proper right here, underneath the Saudi solar.
