In a surprising turn of events, South Africa has refused to grant visas to Nigeria’s national under-18 basketball team, preventing them from participating in the 2024 FIBA U18 Afrobasket tournament. The competition is set to take place in Cape Town from December 14 to 22.
This decision was confirmed by the Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF), which expressed deep disappointment and frustration over the visa denial. The federation stated that no clear explanation was provided by South African authorities for the refusal.
Ugo Udezue, the Vice Chairman of the Youth Development Committee of the NBBF, described the situation as an act of sabotage. He revealed that the players’ visas were denied by the South African Consulate in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
This unexpected decision has thrown Nigeria’s plans for the biennial tournament into disarray. The team was scheduled to travel to South Africa on Tuesday (today) and face Egypt in Pretoria later in the day. The young athletes, who had been training and camping in Abuja after returning from Abidjan, were left in shock, tears, and disappointment as their dreams of competing on the global stage were dashed.
Reacting to the situation, Udezue stated, “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 refusal of visas appears to be a targeted move against the Junior D’Tigers, especially since the South African Embassy in Lagos cleared the girls’ team to travel. The girls have already arrived in Pretoria and are set to compete against Egypt in their opening match on Tuesday. Both teams had been camping in Lagos after returning from Ivory Coast, where they emerged as winners of the FIBA Africa Zone 3 qualifiers.
The NBBF had submitted the names of both the boys and girls teams to the embassy in a single letter. It is reported that the federation has lodged complaints with FIBA Africa, the South African hosts, and Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Ministry. However, calls made by South African officials from Pretoria have yielded little to no results.
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