Embarassing 100-meter sprint from Somali official's alleged niece prompts government apology for 'abuse of power, nepotism'

A female sprinter's abysmal performance at the 2023 World University Games prompted accusations of nepotism and corruption when the runner was accused of being the niece of a government official. The incredibly lackluster result in the 100-meter race prompted an apology from the Somali sports minister and a suspension of the chairwoman of the country's athletics federation.

Nasra Ali Abukar represented Somalia in the 100-meter sprint at the FISU 2023 World University Games in China, but finished the race with a time of 21.81 seconds, almost 10 seconds behind the heat winner.

Colloquially called the "slowest-ever" finish by outlets such as the Daily Mail, questions immediately arose from the young woman's participation.

"How could they select an untrained girl to represent Somalia in running? It's truly shocking and reflects poorly on our country internationally," said the caption for a video of the race, which was posted on Twitter.

Elham Garaad, a Somali commentator who posted the video, also claimed Abukar is the niece of the senior vice president of the Somali Athletics Federation, Khadija Aden Dahir.

"Well this is corruption and she is the niece of the athletic federation director," Garaad wrote.

Somalia's Sports Minister Mohamed Barre Mohamud tore into the country's athletic federation and said that the acts of nepotism embarrassed the country.

"Khadijo Aden Dahir, the Chairwoman of the Somali Athletics Federation, has engaged in acts of abuse of power, nepotism, and defaming the name of the nation in (the) international arena," the minister said after an investigation.

"Based on these findings, the Chairman of the Somalia National Olympics committee should suspend Khadijo Aden," he added.

Reuters reported that the chairwoman was indeed suspended.

"Furthermore, the Ministry ... firmly declares its intention to pursue legal action against both the Chairman of the Athletics Federation of Somalia and individuals responsible for the falsification of the Somali University Sports Association," Mohamud went on.

Abukar was interviewed days before the event, and was pictured in a meeting with Somali officials and the Chinese ambassador to Somalia, Fei Shengchao.

"I feel more proud that Somalia will be there on the world stage and certainly Somali excellence have my best wishes and I wish them good luck and every success in China. Particularly, I think it's not only going to be a platform for them to compete but also to communicate and make friends with athletes in China and from all over the world," the ambassador said.

“What happened today was not representati[ve] of the Somali people ... we apologise to the Somali people," the sports minister also said.

The Telegraph reported that Mohamud also stressed that Abukar actually represented one of Somalia’s universities and not the country itself. The investigation revealed that there is no actual registered Somali University Sports Association.

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