Esther Salifu
The Vice Chairman of the Youth Development Committee of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, Ugo Udezue, has expressed his disappointment at the South African Consulate’s decision for denying Nigeria U-18 boys’ basketball team visas to participate in the 2024 FIBA U18 Afrobasket tournament in South Africa.
The South African Consulate in Abuja made the decision, leaving the team’s trip to the biennial tournament in jeopardy.
Nigeria was scheduled to face Egypt in Pretoria on Tuesday, but the visa denial has thrown their participation into uncertainty.
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.”
Udezue, who is already in Pretoria with the first team, sees the development as a total sabotage. “It’s unacceptable that the South African Embassy in Lagos cleared the girls’ team to travel, and they’re already in Pretoria, while the boys’ team is denied visas. This smacks of deliberate attempts to stop the Junior D’Tigers from participating in the tournament.”
The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) sent the names of both the boys and girls teams in a single letter to the embassy, but only the girls’ team was granted visas. The NBBF has already complained to FIBA Africa, the South African hosts, and Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, but the calls made by South African officials from Pretoria have made little or no impact.
“This is a setback for Nigerian basketball, and we’ll do everything in our power to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” Udezue vowed. “We’ll continue to fight for the dreams of these young players and ensure that they get the opportunity they deserve.”
