London 2012: Nigerian lifters stranded in Lagos

INDICATIONS are rife that Nigeria may miss this year's World Weightlifting Championship which begins this weekend in Paris, France.Reason: The eight lifters and officials listed for the trip were yet to be issued visas by the Embassy of France in Lagos, owing to late submission of necessary documents.Tribunesports gathered that the lifters and officials sent their documents to the embassy after their arrival from the Commonwealth and African Championships held in Johannesburg, South Africa."Their international passports are supposed to be with the embassy for a specified period but due to the championship in South Africa, this regulation could not be met," explained our source adding that, the team which had planned to travel yesternight, is to appear again today at the embassy hoping for a breakthrough.Chief Coach of the Weightlifting Federation of Nigeria, Patrick Bassey, speaking in Lagos, expressed confidence in his team's ability to win tickets to the London 2012 Olympics given its level of preparedness. "We are not going to France to sell groundnuts and I'm very optimistic that our lifters would put in their best in France. What we gained in South Africa would equally help us,' he added.We will do everything humanly possible to comeback with Olympics tickets. In fact, my target is to win Olympics medals," Bassey said.The competition holds from November 5 to 13 at the Dome Disney Village in Paris, France.Meanwhile, Secretary General of the Nigerian Weightlifting Federation, Uche Onwumeh, could not be reached for comments as of the time of going to the press.It will be recalled that Nigeria emerged victorious at the just-ended Commonwealth championships in South Africa, with 20 gold, two silver and one bronze medals.
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