World Athletics turns down 11 athletes’ requests to transfer allegiance to Turkey

SportMore SportsAthleticsWorld Athletics turns down 11 athletes’ requests to transfer allegiance to TurkeyWorld Athletics claimed the requests resulted from a “coordinated recruitment strategy” by the Turkish government ahead of the LA 2028 OlympicsFlo Clifford Thursday 16 April 2026 17:13 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2959184","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/athletics/world-athletics-turkey-allegiance-transfers-favour-ofili-b2959184.html","title":"World Athletics turns down 11 athletes’ requests to transfer allegiance to Turkey"}}Favour Ofili is one of the athletes whose transfer request was refused (Getty)Inside Sport newsletter: Get an expert guide to the biggest moments shaping the world of sportGet our free Inside Sport newsletterGet our free Inside Sport newsletterEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_Inside_Sport_CDP","regTitle":"Inside Sport","subscriptionGroup":"inside_sport","subscriptionGroupId":"9cec95c5-a973-40ac-9b05-03d636c07853","type":"sport","pathPrefix":["/sport","/f1"],"associatedAuthors":["Lawrence Ostlere","Kieran Jackson"],"title":"Inside Sport newsletter: Get an expert guide to the biggest moments shaping the world of sport","mobileTitle":"Get our free Inside Sport newsletter","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/InsideSport1_1.png","newsletterKey":"receiveInsideSportNews","regSourceSection":"Athletics","regSourceMethod":"NSCs"},"isClimate":false}World Athletics has denied 11 athletes’ requests to transfer their allegiance to Turkey on the grounds that they were the result...