South African Consulate in Abuja has denied the Nigerian Under-18 boys’ basketball players entry visas ahead of their participation at the AfroBasket Men’s U18 competition, which started on Monday.
INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that the team was scheduled to play Egypt in their first game of the competition on Tuesday.
The players, who trained and camped in Abuja on return from Abidjan, were seen crying, as they watch their dreams of being at the FIBA World Championship fade on account of the South Africans denying them entry.
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The Vice Chairman of the Youth Development Committee of the Nigeria Basketball Federation(NBBF), Ugo Udezue, who is already in Pretoria with the first team, described the report as total sabotage.
He said: “First of all, it is rather unfortunate that an African country needs a visa to travel to another country. But this visa denial is against the spirit of sportsmanship.
“These kids have sacrificed too much to be denied the opportunity to represent Nigeria globally.”
Meanwhile, the federation has complained to FIBA Africa, the host country, and Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Ministry after the South African officials’ calls from Pretoria on Tuesday did not impact the situation.
