Abuja fails in last-minute effort to make 2018 Youth Olympic Games bid a reality

A last-minute plea from the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) President Sani Ndanusa to government officials for support of an Abuja 2018 Youth Olympic Games bid has proven unsuccessful.

"Sorry to inform u [sic] that Nigeria is no longer bidding for the YOgames," Ndanusa exclusively told GamesBids.com in a text message late Thursday afternoon.

Ndanusa spent the day in a closed-door meeting with the city council trying to get buy-in on a bid that had been in the works for months.

The deadline to send nominations to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was today.

On Wednesday GamesBids.com learned that the Nigerian bid had failed to receive the proper endorsements and could not file an application letter - but that apparently did not deter the NOC leadership who didn't give up until the end of the business day at the IOC's Lausanne headquarters.

Abuja's bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games failed but officials had hoped a 2018 Youth Olympic Games would act as a springboard to a future larger-scale event.  Africa has never hosted an Olympic Games.

Bids are expected from Buenos Aires, Argentina; Medellin, Columbia; Guadalajara, Mexico; Glasgow, Scotland and Rotterdam, Netherlands.  A bid from Kaspiysk, Russia was abandoned earlier Thursday.