Nigeria’s participation in this weekend’s 2022 ITTF Africa Senior Championships is in doubt following the inability to get the needed fund to embark on the trip to Algeria for the continental showpiece from September 3 to 9.
Already, the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF) has five men and four women with Quadri Aruna and Fatimo Bello leading the country’s contingent to Algiers.
Also listed by NTTF include Taiwo Mati, Olajide Omotayo, Azeez Solanke, and Amadi Omeh while the women’s team has Bose Odusanya, Ajoke Ojomu, and Esther Oribamise.
According to a source with NTTF, the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has approved the trip for the team but the fund is not available for the team to travel.
There are plans to secure flight tickets for the players to embark on the trip today as the team event is expected to start tomorrow.
The President of NTTF Ishaku Tikon is at present in a fix over the trip as he was making frantic efforts to secure tickets for the foreign-based players to join up with the team in Algiers.
The tournament serves as a qualifying tournament for the 2023 World Championships taking place in Durban, South Africa.
Teams expected to compete at the seven-day championships include host Algeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Morocco, Libya, Mauritania, Congo DRC, Egypt, South Africa, Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Tunisia, Nigeria, Zambia, Uganda, Mauritius, and the Benin Republic.
Meanwhile, Tournament Director Cherif Derkaoui has said that the Algeria Table tennis Federation would do its utmost best to host a memorable event while assuring all 28 participating countries with warm hospitality.
