By Abiola Olawale
Nigerian national under-18 basketball team has been denied visa by South Africa.
This has placed a stumbling block on the participation of the under-18 basketball team in the 2024 FIBA U18 Afrobasket tournament set to take place in Cape Town from December 14 to 22.
The Vice Chairman, Nigerian Basketball Federation, Ugo Udezue, raised this alarm in a statement issued on Tuesday.
According to him, the South African Consulate in Abuja denied the male players’ visas.
Expressing frustration over the lack of explanation, Udezue described the move as a form of sabotage.
He also said that the federation has lodged complaints with FIBA Africa, the South African hosts and Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Ministry but efforts to resolve the issue have so far been ineffective.
Udezue 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.”
However, the South African Embassy in Lagos approved visas for the girls’ team, who are currently in Pretoria for their match against Egypt.
