Another Blow: Emmanuel Bamidele Dumps Nigeria For UAE

Another Blow: Emmanuel Bamidele Dumps Nigeria For UAE

Sampson Adedeji

Nigeria’s athletics community was thrown into shock on Tuesday as quartermiler Emmanuel Bamidele officially switched allegiance from Nigeria to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), BSNSports.com.ng reports.

The development comes barely three months after sprint sensation Favour Ofili chose to represent Turkey over Nigeria.

Bamidele, who first rose to prominence in 2018 after winning the men’s 400m at the Commonwealth Games trials in Abuja with a time of 45.28s, once ranked among the world’s top 60 athletes in the event.

Shortly after his breakthrough, he abandoned the Nigerian camp amid reports of interest from Qatar. By May 2019, he was already competing for Qatar, placing second in the 400m at the Doha Diamond League.

His career later took him to the United States, where he competed for Texas A&M and later the University of Florida. 

Highlights of his collegiate career include a third-place finish at the NCAA Indoor 400m (45.78s), anchoring his team to a 4×400m relay title, and winning the 2023 NCAA Outdoor 400m final with a blistering personal best of 44.24s the second-fastest time ever by a Nigerian-born athlete.

Bamidele also represented Nigeria at major international meets, including a second-place finish at the Diamond League in Stockholm (July 2023) and a fifth-place finish at the 2024 Diamond League in Rabat.

According to athletics journalist NaturalCal, the 23-year-old quartermiler whose season’s best stands at 45.36s is immediately eligible to represent the UAE.

This latest switch deepens concerns over Nigeria’s inability to retain its top athletic talents, as the country continues to lose stars to other nations.