After a poor 2024 Paris Olympics, Turkey took action, and in June 2025, several Jamaican athletes switched allegiances. It started with Rajindra Campbell and Roje Stona before Wayne Pinnock and Jaydon Hibbert joined them. A few others joined the quartet after switching allegiance to Turkey, in news that stunned the athletics world. However, now an insider from Turkey’s Olympic athletics team has opened up about the details.

Onder Ozbilen, the team coordinator for Turkey’s Olympic athletics team, spoke to France 24 in an exclusive interview. There, Ozbilen had a lot to say about the incident, including that they rejected 30 approaches from athletes, including Americans. They did that, Ozbilen continued, because the athletes’ interest was purely financial and nothing else.

However, that wasn’t what Turkey and Ozbilen were after. Instead, he refuted reports that indicated the switch for the now 11 athletes was purely because of the long-term financial support.

“It’s not a Turkish guy going to some countries with a bag of money in his hands,” Ozbilen said, as per France 24. “This is the most long-term plan and humanistic naturalization project in the world till now.”

The switch, however, comes on the back of reported negligence from the Jamaican Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA). As per an interview with Danniel Thomas-Dodd, the JAAA’s focus is on their track athletes, not their field athletes. She touched upon the lack of financial and other support from the federation, and how they still managed to medal at the Olympics despite that.

That led to five Jamaican field athletes switching allegiances to Turkey. They have since been joined by several Kenyan athletes and Nigeria’s Favour Ofili as well. Ofili, in particular, cited her issues with the Nigerian administration, where she missed key events. That includes the Athletics Federation of Nigeria not submitting her name for the 100m event despite her qualifying for the event at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

She’s not the only one, as 10 other Nigerian athletes were disqualified days before the Tokyo Olympics because of reported negligence. However, the financial support that Turkey offers the athletes does play a big part as well. But Onder Ozbilen went on to deny the reports that the athletes have received $500,000 to switch their allegiances.

He did confirm that a few athletes would get around “$300,000 over a 30-month period”. That is to compensate for their lack of win bonuses, as they sit out the required three-years before they can compete under a new flag.

JAAA issued a call to World Athletics to intervene

In light of the alarming switches by Jamaican athletes, the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) asked World Athletics to intervene. That’s because the high-profile defections of their Olympic medalists to Turkey have sparked serious concerns from the federation. So much so that in June 2025, JAAA president Garth Gayle confirmed that they’ve escalated the matter in writing.

Not only that, Gayle went on to reveal that they’re also planning on sending a written copy to “Congress in Tokyo”. Furthermore, vice-president Ian Forbes touched upon how this marks a change for the global athletics’ future.

“There’s that saying: nobody’s stoning green mangoes. They want the ripe mango,” Forbes said as per CNW. “It’s not surprising they’ve gone after four of our athletes. The sport has changed. It’s still evolving. And I think World Athletics, and by extension JAAA and other federations, need to keep pace with the evolution of the sport and focus on preserving its integrity.”

He went on to propose reform within the space, asking to help compensate federations for the loss of athletes. They’re not the only ones taking action, as Sofia Yakushina has found herself in the middle of a tug-of-war between Turkey and Russia. The Russian-born athlete accepted Turkish citizenship to compete again, but Russia appealed, and talks of compensation have prevented her from competing.

However, the final decision on ratifying the switch lies with World Athletics, and Ozbilen revealed that they are patiently waiting for the governing body’s decision.