Following the rampaging outbreak of the Ebola Virus across the West African region, the 3rd annual Chika Chukwumerije Sports Foundation(CCSF) in­ternational taekwondo tour­nament has been postponed.
A statement signed by the Chika Chukwumerije made available to Daily Sunsports, the tournament expected to feature 8 African Countries in­cluding Nigeria, 6 universities, 7 clubs , the Armed Forces, Ni­gerian Police and Paramilitary, had been postponed till further notice.
“In recent weeks, a new chal­lenge in the form of the Ebola epidemic in the West Africa re­gion has struck a fearful chord across the nation, as attempts have been stepped up by the relevant authorities to confront this novel danger on Nigeria’s shores,” Chukwumerije said.
The three time Olympian added: “The 2013 CCSF Opens had 320 athletes in attendance from 8 countries, 24 Nigerian sates, six universities, seven clubs, the Nigeria Police, Armed Forces and Paramilitar­ies. In addition, there was an overall influx of 1,200 persons over the 2-day event. The 2014 edition is expected to be even bigger, with 11 countries (nine from West Africa) expected to be in attendance, and a total au­dience of 1,500 over the 2-day event (including 200 school children from 10 schools in FCT Abuja).
Continuing he said: “The best case scenario of tackling the viral spread is projected by some experts to be in the range of three – six months, dur­ing which the CCSF Opens is scheduled to take place. In light of the slim chance of provid­ing an ideal environment for a highly unlikely scenario of an Ebola viral spread, organizers of the CCSF Opens have decid­ed to err on the side of caution and postpone Nigeria’s best taekwondo tournament till fur­ther notice. We would carefully watch the turn of events over the coming weeks and months before announcing a new date.
“We totally share in the over­whelming disappointment of all our major stakeholders – ath­letes, coaches, school children, and foreign guests – over this huge decision, but the policy is the CCSF is clear about put­ting the safety of stakeholders first in all our programmes and activities. We will continue to have other local and regional programmes and stay focused on achieving our long-term goals,” the Beijing Olympics.

Ebola: Chukwumerije postpones taekwondo tourney