China, Nigeria pursue stronger bilateral sports ties

The Chinese Embassy in Nigeria has expressed regret over the visa delays that led to Nigeria’s withdrawal from the 2025 World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou and has pledged to improve bilateral cooperation in sports.

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PREMIUM TIMES had earlier reported that a meeting between the Chinese Embassy and the National Sports Commission (NSC) was scheduled to address the visa issue.

This commitment was reaffirmed during a diplomatic visit by Chinese Embassy officials to the leadership of the NSC in Abuja on Tuesday.

The meeting was part of efforts to restore confidence and explore new avenues of sports diplomacy between the two countries.

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In a press statement issued by Kehinde Ajayi, director of press at the NSC, Culture Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy, Yang Jianxing, described the visa mishap as an unfortunate incident and conveyed China’s willingness to build a more reliable communication channel with Nigeria on sporting matters.

“I want to describe what has happened as an accident, and we are sorry and we regret it in its entirety,” Mr. Yang said. “We are here to let the Sports Commission know that the Chinese Government holds Nigeria in high esteem.”

He added that the Embassy is open to deeper collaboration with the NSC, including training and exchange programs for Nigerian athletes and sports media professionals.

“Once again I want to assure you that from next time we will try our best for this not to repeat itself again and we will also like to create a special channel for a China and Nigeria Sports Communication,” he stated.

Chinese Embassy officials hold talks with the leadership of Nigeria’s National Sports Commission

Better things to come

NSC Chairman Shehu Dikko welcomed the Embassy’s outreach and called it a “huge sign of better things to come” in China-Nigeria sporting relations.

“We are very happy to receive officials from the Chinese Embassy in our office today, and it shows the Chinese Government’s genuine disappointment for what happened,” he said.

“We should at all times try to create positives out of things like this, and we are happy that this has further strengthened our relationship with the Chinese Embassy.”

Also speaking at the meeting, NSC Director General Bukola Olopade praised the Embassy’s diplomatic handling of the situation and emphasised the Commission’s desire to use the incident as a turning point for closer collaboration.

“Your humility and diplomacy are the best I have seen anywhere, and I am very grateful that you best described the incident between the AFN, the Commission, and your embassy as an accident,” Mr Olopade said. “We have all agreed to take it as such and move forward to better things.”

“I want to thank you for everything and for the request for exchange programmes and training for our media and sports men and women. This is truly worthy of note. We are looking forward to a bigger and better relationship between Nigeria and China.”

Knotty issue

PREMIUM TIMES had exclusively reported over the weekend that the Chinese Embassy planned to meet with the NSC to resolve the visa issue that led to Nigeria’s withdrawal from the global event.

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In that report, the Cultural Counsellor confirmed that discussions were being scheduled to prevent future occurrences and clarify the events leading to the failed participation.

While the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) attributed the withdrawal to delays by Chinese authorities, the Chinese Embassy disputed this account.

In a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES, the Embassy outlined a timeline of events showing when visa requests were received and processed.

Although the Embassy firmly rejected the AFN’s version of events, both sides have since focused on rebuilding trust and enhancing future collaboration.