The Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF) says that 12 countries have confirmed their participation in the Nigeria International Taekwondo Open, holding from Feb. 8 to Feb. 10 in Abuja.

Chika Chukwumerije, a board member of the NTF told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that adequate arrangements have been put in place to have a memorable event.

Chukwumerije said that athletes from Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Cote D’ Ivorie, DR Congo, Ghana, Guadeloupe, Niger Republic, Oman, Togo, USA, Senegal Togo and host country Nigeria would participate in the event.

He said that the World Taekwondo approved ranked G-1 event hosted by the NTF would create an enabling environment for athletes to boost their ranking in their various categories.

“The registration have been on for a while now and countries have indicated interest to feature their athletes, as at the moment, 12 nations have confirmed their participation.

“As the host country, we also have a good number of our athletes registered for the event and we have concluded arrangements to make the competition eventful for everyone,” he added.

The heavy weight summer Olympic medallist added that the forthcoming competition would help improve the standard of the sport in the country.(NAN)