Nigeria Missing Out In World Relay As US Embassy Denies Athletes Visas

  Nigeria Missing Out In World Relay As US Embassy Denies Athletes Visas By Sampson Adedeji When the 2021 World Athletics championship begins in Silesia Poland, Nigeria athletes will not be present, BSNSports.com.ng reports The statements coming from the Athletics Federation Of Nigeria (AFN) indicated that instead of the athletes to apply for Polish visa they were taken to the US Embassy for America visas by the Ministry of Youth and Sports ahead of the planned training tour. The Nigeria contigents were vehemently denied visas on the ground that they were yet to qualify for the ancient games. “The information at our disposal is that athletes who were supposed to represent Nigeria at the World Athletics Relays in Silesia, Poland were taken to the USA Embassy to obtain visas for a training tour of an event they were yet to qualify for. “The scheduled relays in Poland were meant to enable Nigeria to secure qualification for the Olympic Games in Tokyo but to our disbelief, the athletes’ passports were diverted to the USA Embassy to secure visas for a training camp for an event they are yet to qualify for. How can a qualification question competition in Poland which was our best bet be ignored for a training camp in the USA? “This is one of the numerous reasons why sports in Nigeria should be allowed to be administered according to international best practices”, Gusau said. It will be recalled that the ministry, through the Main Organizing Committee (MOC) of the National Sports Festival, cancelled a national trial which the Athletics Federation of Nigeria would have used to select all the teams that will represent Nigeria in major competitions. On April 20 and 21, during a fact finding visit to Nigeria, the World Athletics and Confederation of African Athletics CAA intervened and allowed Nigeria to make a late entry which was approved by WA but surprisingly, the ministry opted for a training Tour.