Nigeria athletics will no longer participate in this years World Athletics Relay scheduled to be hosted in Guangzhou, China.

This was confirmed by Kola Daniel the media aide to the Director General of the National Sports Commission NSC, Bukola Olopade.

According to the statement, seven Nigerian athletes who were stationed in the US were not granted visas by the Chinese consulate in Nigeria.

China’s “hard policies against the USA” were cited by the NSC as the reason for the decision.

The commission added that the competition’s funding had been authorised since “February/March” and that the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) “did everything correctly and at the right time.”

An 18-athlete squad representing Nigeria was announced by AFN in April for the competition, which is scheduled for May 10–12.

Tobi Amusan, the 100-meter hurdles world record holder and competitor in the women’s 4×100-meter relay race, was on the list.

Four events were scheduled for Team Nigeria to compete in: mixed 4x100m, mixed 4x400m, men’s, and women’s.

Later this year, at the World Athletics Championships in Japan, the top 14 nations in each event will automatically qualify for relays.

AFN has petitioned World Athletics to provide Nigeria a free entrance to the World Athletics Championships, according to NSC.