The Nigerian Under-18 boys’ basketball team has been denied visas by the South African Consulate in Abuja, jeopardizing their participation in the AfroBasket Men’s U18 tournament starting today in South Africa.
The team, which was set to face Egypt in their opening game on Tuesday in Pretoria, is now left in disarray as their dreams of competing in the FIBA World Championship hang in the balance. The players, who had trained and camped in Abuja after returning from Abidjan, are reportedly devastated by the visa denial.
Ugo Udezue, Vice Chairman of the Youth Development Committee of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), expressed his outrage upon learning of the situation. He described the visa denial as an act of sabotage and lamented, “It’s unfortunate that an African country requires a visa to travel to another African country. This is against the spirit of sportsmanship. These young athletes have sacrificed so much, only to have a visa consular officer deny them the chance to represent Nigeria on the global stage.”
The visa denial appears to be a deliberate attempt to hinder the Junior D’Tigers’ participation, especially as the South African Embassy in Lagos approved visas for the Nigerian girls’ team, who are already in Pretoria and ready for their match against Egypt. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams had qualified for the tournament through the FIBA Africa Zone 3 qualifiers in Côte d’Ivoire. The NBBF had submitted a single visa request letter for both teams.
The NBBF has lodged complaints with FIBA Africa, the South African hosts, and Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but these appeals have yet to yield results. The situation remains unresolved as the tournament begins.
