The Chinese consulate has reportedly refused to issue visas to Nigerian athletes aiming to compete in the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, China.
The competition is scheduled to take place in the Chinese city from Saturday to Sunday, with Nigeria qualified for four events.
According to National Sports Commission (NSC) officials, the Chinese consulate in Nigeria failed to issue visas to seven Nigerian athletes based in the United States of America, citing China’s ‘hard policies against the USA’.
The official insisted that the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) took all the necessary steps, with the funds for the competition already approved since February or March.
In April, AFN released a list of 18 athletes to represent Nigeria in the championship, including 100m hurdles world record holder Tobi Amusan, who was to compete in the women’s 4x100m relay.
Team Nigeria was billed to compete in men’s and women’s 4x100m, as well as the mixed 4x400m.
The top 14 countries in each event will secure automatic qualification for relays at the World Athletics Championships in Japan later this year.
The AFN is appealing to World Athletics for Nigeria’s relay teams to be allowed to participate in the World Athletics Championships if they are not able to run in China.
