Nigeria’s U-18 boys’ basketball team has landed in Pretoria, South Africa, ready to stake their claim to the 2024 AfroBasket Championship trophy.
 
Although the last few days have been hectic for the boys, who were initially denied entry visas to the competition by the South Africa Embassy, the team finally arrived in Pretoria early yesterday, with just enough time to shake off jetlag before entering the court against Egypt.
 
The delay in securing the visas meant that the players could not train as they wished in Pretoria ahead of today’s game in the competition, which started on Monday.

The players had trained and camped in Abuja on their return from Abidjan where they won the FIBA Africa Zone 3 ticket to the African finals.

Speaking on the drama that characterised the team’s trip to Pretoria, the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) Vice Chairman of Youth Development Committee, Ugo Udezue, who is also leading the delegation to the competition, condemned the development describing it as sabotage.

He 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.”