The players of Nigeria’s U-18 boys’ basketball team have been denied visas to the 2024 FIBA U18 Afrobasket by the South African Consulate in Abuja. This decision has put Nigeria’s participation in the biennial tournament, which begins today in South Africa, at serious risk. The team was scheduled to face Egypt in Pretoria later in the day.

After returning from Abidjan and training in Abuja, the players are devastated, watching their dreams of competing in the FIBA World Championship slip away due to the visa denial by the South African authorities.

Ugo Udezue, Vice Chairman of the Youth Development Committee of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), who is already in Pretoria with the first team, expressed shock and disappointment over the situation, calling it an act of sabotage. He criticized the visa requirement between African countries and lamented the lost opportunity for the young athletes.

“It’s unfortunate that an African country requires a visa to travel to another African country. This goes against the spirit of sportsmanship. These kids have sacrificed so much, only to be denied the chance to represent Nigeria globally by a consular officer,” Udezue said.

The visa denial appears to be a targeted move, as the South African Embassy in Lagos granted visas to the girls’ team, who are already in Pretoria preparing for their match against Egypt.

Both the boys and girls’ teams had recently returned from Ivory Coast, where they won the FIBA Africa Zone 3 qualifiers. The NBBF had submitted the names of both teams in a single letter to the embassy. The NBBF has lodged complaints with FIBA Africa, the South African hosts, and Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, but efforts to resolve the issue through South African officials in Pretoria have so far yielded little success.