UAE Bars Nigerian Athletes From Partaking In World Swimming Championships

Nigerian athletes were barred from partaking in the 15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 which holds in Abu Dhabi.

The athletes and their representatives stated that they were denied access to participate in the competition by authorities of the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.

According to them, they got to UAE from European countries, not Nigeria but were denied the opportunity to represent their fatherland.

“On sighting our Nigerian passports, the UAE officials treated us with disdain,” a female athlete claimed.

Some of the athletes affected are Philip Adejumo and Abiola Ogunbanwo.

Following the frustration, a lot of the athletes withdrew from the competition.

Some of them also lamented that they were not allowed to see Nigerian officials.

One of the athletes said; “The officials were not even allowed to leave their hotel rooms and competition started yesterday.”