Nigeria has officially withdrawn from the 2025 World Relays in Guangzhou, China, citing major delays in the issuance of visas to its athletes, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) announced on Friday.
In a strongly worded statement, the AFN placed the blame squarely on the Chinese visa process, calling it the primary reason for the late withdrawal ahead of the event, which begins this Friday.
“With deep regret, we, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, announce our withdrawal from the World Relays following unacceptable visa delays by Chinese authorities,” the AFN said in a statement shared on Instagram.
“Despite our diligent efforts processing documentation since February, our athletes have faced numerous obstacles—from embassy embarrassment to last-minute visa issuance that made competition attendance physically impossible.
“The impact has been severe: wasted training preparations, significant financial losses, lost qualification opportunities, and devastating psychological effects on our athletes who were ready to represent Nigeria with pride.”
The federation accused Chinese authorities of frustrating the process, citing poor communication, incorrect invitation letters, inconsistent application procedures, and excessive demands such as police reports and bank statements from all participating athletes, coaches, and officials.
“Chinese authorities frustrated our participation by claiming they didn’t have contact with their own Embassy in Washington and Abuja, also providing incorrect invitation letters and changing the application portal twice! Their requirement for a special ‘Verification Letter of Invitation’ was poorly communicated and inconsistently applied,” the AFN statement added.
The AFN stressed that the decision to pull out was inevitable as it became evident that the Nigerian team would not receive fair treatment or an equal chance to compete on the world stage.
Guangzhou 2025 is also a critical qualifying event for the World Athletics Championships set for Tokyo in September 2025. A total of 730 athletes from 43 countries will compete, with the top 14 teams in each event—excluding the mixed 4x100m relay—automatically qualifying for Tokyo. The remaining two places will be decided based on the top performance lists during the qualification period running from February 2024 to August 2025.
While Nigeria’s withdrawal is a blow to its relay ambitions, the AFN praised the resilience and commitment of its athletes in the face of logistical adversity:
“We thank our athletes for their dedication and resilience through this challenging situation.”
