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The Nigerian team will not feature at the 2025 World Athletics Relays, scheduled for May 10-11 in Guangzhou. As per reports, the Chinese authorities have not approved the visas of the players, meaning a denial of entry into the tournament.
However, the major reason behind this action from the Chinese officials hasn't been put out in the media so far. This subsequent action surrounding the Nigerian side will also result in non-participation of the team in any of the relay events during the 2025 World Championships, scheduled at the Japanese capital in September.
Nigeria announced their side for the 2025 World Athletics Relays just a couple of weeks back. It consisted of several top stars, including Tobi Amusan, a former 100m hurdles World Champion and 3-time Diamond League winner in the Women's 100m hurdles event. Other important prospects from the team included Alaba Akintola in the Men's 4x100m event and Chidie Okezie in the Mixed 4x400m side.
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The secretary of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria had shared that the organization has selected the sides with a complete focus on bringing medals for the country. The official said (via Athletics Africa):
"In selecting the four events, the federation prioritized areas of comparative advantage and medal potential."
The Nigerian side had also faced such issues with approval of their visas in several other World Relay events in the past (2021 and 2023).
Nigerian National Sports Commission member had shared his concerns about the visa approval procedure for the 2025 World Athletics Relays
An official from the Nigerian sports commission had expressed his concerns about the issues in the visa approval procedure for the Nigerian athletes before the 2025 World Athletics Relays. The athletes, along with other staff members of the side were planned to leave for China earlier this week (May 5).
The official shared that the embassy had asked to approve just the athletes who are authorized by the track and field governing body, World Athletics, and not the other staff of the delegation. Additionally, the official also remarked that this procedure is different from the 2025 World Indoors that took place in Nanjing, China. The official said (via The Guardian Nigeria News):
“The organisers are insisting that they will work on only a list of participants sent by the World Athletics, instead of the delegation’s list we forwarded to them. This is unlike what happened during the World Indoors."
As the 2025 World Athletics Relays start on Saturday (May 10), the US team will be one of the strongest teams going into the event with athletes such as Kenny Bednarek.
