The Turkish Embassy in Abuja on Thursday denied Blessing Onyebuchi and her trainer, Victor Kodei, visa to participate at the 2nd World Olympic Games qualification tournament in Istanbul, Turkey.
Onyebuchi, 30, won bronze medal at Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
The wrestler weighing 75kg reportedly met all criteria laid down by the Turkish embassy, but was unable to get a visa to attend the event billed for 6-8 May 2016.
There have been media reports about the inability of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF) to secure necessary funding from the National Sports Commission (NSC) for her trip.
“We don’t know if Onyebuchi will travel as I am talking to you. The president of the federation, Daniel Igali is right now in Abuja to see the Honourable Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung. Everything has been put in place but we are waiting for the approval from the ministry,” a source in the wrestling federation told SportingLife earlier in the week.
The 2015 All Africa Games silver medallist will miss the chance to grab one of the 36 slots for wrestlers from across the world to secure a berth at the Rio Olympics games in Brazil.
