The South African Consulate in Abuja has denied players of the Nigerian U-18 boys’ basketball team visas to participate in the 2024 FIBA U18 Afrobasket.
This decision has wrecked Nigeria’s plan to travel to the biennial tournament starting in South Africa on Tuesday (today), with Nigeria billed to face Egypt in Pretoria later in the day.
The Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF) has expressed deep disappointment and frustration, citing a lack of explanation for the visa denial.
The Vice Chairman of the Youth Development Committee of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, Ugo Udezue, who is already in Pretoria, said: “First of all, it’s rather unfortunate that an African country needs a visa to travel to another African country. Secondly, this is against the spirit of sportsmanship. These kids have sacrificed too much for a visa consular officer to deny them the opportunity to represent Nigeria globally.”
“The act of refusing the team visas seems like a deliberate attempt to stop the Junior D’Tigers, as the South African Embassy in Lagos cleared the girls to travel, and they are already in Pretoria and set for their opening match against Egypt on Tuesday”.
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