South Africa has denied Nigerian Under-18 boys’ basketball players visas.
The players were denied visas by the South African Consulate in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
The development has jeopardised Nigeria’s trip to the 2024 FIBA U-18 Afrobasket competition, with Nigeria billed to face Egypt in Pretoria today Tuesday.
Expressing disappointment, the Nigerian Basketball Federation, NBBF, cited a lack of explanation for the visa denial.
Ugo Udezue, the Vice Chairman of the Youth Development Committee of the NBBF, 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.”
AfroBasket 2024: South Africa denies Nigeria’s junior basketball team visa
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