The British champion, Mike Edwards, is appealing to the International Association of Athletics Federations to allow him to follow his dream of representing Nigeria at the Commonwealth Games
The 27-year-old arrived on the Gold Coast as part of the Nigerian team but is ineligible to compete because he represented Britain at the European Junior Championships in 2009.
Edwards, who was born in Manchester but has a Nigerian mother and citizenship, has protested against his situation with a home-made sign in the athletes’ village.
“It was nine years ago – it is a worse sentence that a drug cheat gets,” he told BBC Sport.
“I am walking around the village with my Nigerian kit and unsure if I can even walk in the stadium and represent.
“It is nearly a decade since I last competed in an international championship, I feel I am being robbed of that opportunity right in front of my eyes.
“I am willing to protest every day in the village. I will do it until I receive a call from [IAAF president] Seb Coe. If he can’t do that he is a coward.
“As a fellow athlete, he can’t hide behind his desk – that is heartless.”
Athletes have in the past transferred nationalities.
Ramil Guliyev competed at the same European Junior Championships as Edwards in 2009 winning gold for Azerbaijan, but took the world 200m title in London last year under the Turkish flag.
However, the process for switching nations was stopped in February 2017 with the IAAF citing concerns over the exploitation of young African athletes, and has not resumed.
