The panel set up by the Minister of Youth and Sports Development Sunday Dare is on track to complete its investigation before a deadline of one month to do so expires.

The ten Nigerian athletes were part of a group of 20 from seven countries that were ruled out of Tokyo 2020 by the Athletics Integrity Unit because of concerns over how rigorously they were tested in the build-up.

Under Rule 15 of the National Federation Anti-Doping Obligations, in the ten months before an Olympic Games, any athlete from a Category A country needs to face at least three no-notice, out-of-competition doping tests, which must be conducted at least three weeks apart.

The seven strong panel set up by Dare to investigate what happened in the cases of the Nigerian athletes is headed by Professor Ken Anugweje.

Former secretary general of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) Maria Worphil has been appointed as secretary.

Worphil said the panel had already held two in-person meetings and the investigation was on track, as reported by The Sun Nigeria.

“We are at the stage of in-person interaction and should conclude before the deadline given in our letter of appointment,” said Worphil.

The panel’s terms of reference include ascertaining the roles and responsibilities of the National Antidoping Commission, the AFN, the Federation of Elite Athletes Development, the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, the Nigerian Olympic Committee and the affected athletes in the testing process.

As well as the ten Nigerian athletes, three from Ukraine, one from Morocco, one from Ethiopia, three from Belarus and two from Kenya were ruled ineligible, although the two Kenyan athletes were replaced before final entries were submitted to World Athletics.

The nations affected by the ruling are all classed as Category A National Federations, meaning they are deemed most at-risk when it comes to doping.

Despite the ruling, Nigeria still earned one athletics medal at Tokyo 2020, courtesy of long jumper Ese Brume who claimed bronze.