Nigeria out of world relays as athletes are denied visa

Nigeria will not be represented at the 2021 World Athletics Relays that would be taking place this weekend, in Silesia, Poland.

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John Akanji, media aide to the sports minister, Sunday Dare, said the country will not participate in the relays because "the athletes were denied visas by the Polish embassy."

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Akanji's statement was to refute claims that Nigerian athletes will not be exchanging batons in Poland because of infighting between officials.

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A leadership crisis is currently rocking the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), with the sports ministry backing a faction headed by one Olamide George.

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Ibrahim Shehu-Gusau, the factional leader of the AFN, whose leadership is being tagged "illegitimate" by a rival faction led by Olamide George, had released a press statement on Thursday, April 29.

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In the press release, he blamed sports ministry officials for Nigeria missing out on the competition.

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In the statement titled, "Sports ministry scuttles Nigeria’s World Relays participation", Gusau claimed the Ministry of Youth and Sports chose to take the athletes to a training tour in the United States for the same relays they are yet to qualify for, instead of the pre-Olympic Games qualification in Poland.

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The statement by the Shehu-Gusau-led AFN reads: "Nigeria will not participate in the World Relays because the Ministry of Youth and Sports opted to take the athletes to a training tour in the United States for the same relays, they are yet to qualify for, instead of a pre- Olympic Games qualification in Poland.

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"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.

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"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."