Nigeria’s Under-18 boys’ team are running against the clock to participate in the U18 AfroBasket tournament in South Africa.
The Junior D’Tigers have been denied visas by the South African Consulate at Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, which puts their participation in the competition in jeopardy.
The players, who trained and camped in Abuja on return from Abidjan are currently distraught as their dreams of competing at the FIBA World Championship is in limbo with the current situation.
The Vice Chairman of the Youth Development Committee of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, Ugo Udezue, who is already in Pretoria with the female team, was shocked when he was alerted of the development.
Udezue, who sees the development as a total sabotage 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 Nigerian youngsters were scheduled to face Egypt on Tuesday in Pretoria.
