Sports
FIVB Championships: Nigeria’s Participation Uncertain
Nigeria’s participation at
the forthcoming FIVB U-23 Male and Female Beach Volleyball World Championships in Poland looks uncertain due to entry visa hitches, the newsmen reports. Chakuma Ismail, the coach of the under-23 male and female beach volleyball teams, told newsmen that less than a week to the championships no preparations had been made.
The FIVB Male and Female Beach Volleyball World Championships are scheduled to hold from June 10 to 15 in Poland.
“There is no camping programme yet, although we are supposed to travel next week.
“We have not started anything and, as it is now, we may go for the championships and we may not go.
“Because, I have been told there is a problem in securing entry visa. This is in spite of the fact that we notified the federation early enough, immediately after we qualified,’’ Ismail said
When contacted, Musa Nimrod, the Chairman of the Beach Volleyball Commission of the Nigeria Volleyball Federation (NVBF), said the problem was rather from the embassy and not the federation.
“There is no visa processing yet. So, what are we opening camp for? In fact, all the teams from the African countries which qualified for the championships have not secured entry visa.
“This means that we are all suffering from the same problem, which is from the Polish Embassy.
“Of course, a letter came to us not quite long ago to start processing our entry visas. We did start it online then, but we were stopped along the line.
“Now, we have written to the Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB) as expected of all countries unable to get visas.
“The NVBF Secretary-General, Adisa Beyioku, has done that. But we have not yet heard from them. So, for now, there is nothing we can do,’’ Nimrod said.
He however noted that the federation was about suffering the same fate it did in 2012 and 2013 as regards the issue of visas to travel for competitions.
“This is exactly what happened last year and two years ago, when we qualified for championships but were unable to attend because of visa problems.
The championship will run from today to October 12 at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia. On the ground for the championship are athletes from Brazil, Peru, Egypt, Cameroon, Tunisia, Nigeria, Mauritius and Rwanda. They arrived on Sunday.
Some of the other countries were expected in the Abia State capital yesterday. Speaking on the championship, yesterday, Abia State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Nwobilor Ananaba, said the chief host, Governor Alex Otti, has mobilised facilities and the personnel to ensure a successful event.
Speaking through the Special Assistant to the Governor on Sports, Raymond Chima Ukwa, said: “We have the best mats, playing mats, especially the wheelchair playing mats, which is the first of its kind in West Africa.
“If you go around, you’ll see the hall and the preparation that has been made to ensure that people have an equitable world-class playing field.” Thrilled by Governor Otti’s support for the competition, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) President, Francis Orbih, said that, besides making all the necessary arrangements that will ensure a successful hosting of the events, “we will have a Para-Badminton workshop for coaches and players.
“Nigeria is doing well, Abia is doing well, and we want to do better to improve on where we are, which is why all these have been put together by Governor Otti.”
Nigeria’s Flying Eagles began their campaign at the 24th FIFA U20 World Cup with a narrow 1–0 loss to Norway on Monday, despite creating several opportunities to level the game.
Norway took the lead in the 9th minute after being awarded a controversial penalty. The Flying Eagles pressed for an equaliser but were denied two penalty claims in the second half.
Kparobo Arierhi came close in the 47th minute when his shot drifted wide with the goalkeeper beaten, while Tahir Maigana struck the upright in the 63rd minute.
Nasiru Salihu’s rising effort in the 71st minute also went narrowly over the bar, drawing gasps from the crowd.
Seven minutes from time, Maigana again tested Norway with a long-range strike that went just wide as Nigeria continued to pile on the pressure.
Despite their dominance, the Flying Eagles could not find the breakthrough and now turn their attention to Thursday’s clash against Saudi Arabia in their second group match.
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