The Chinese Embassy in Nigeria has officially apologized for what it described as an "unfortunate incident" regarding the visa denial that prevented Nigerian athletes from participating in the 2025 World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou.

Yang Jian Xing, the embassy's cultural counsellor, expressed regret during a diplomatic visit to the leadership of the National Sports Commission (NSC) on Tuesday, stating, "we are sorry" for the situation that led to Nigeria's absence from the international competition.

The controversy began on May 8 when the NSC announced that Nigeria would not be able to participate in the relays due to visa issues. According to the commission, the Chinese consulate failed to issue visas to seven Nigerian athletes based in the United States, citing China's "hard policies against the USA" as the reason for the denial.

During his visit, Xing emphasized that the Chinese government "holds Nigeria in high regard" and is "eager to enhance collaboration with the National Sports Commission to strengthen diplomatic ties."

"Once again, I want to assure you that we will do our best to prevent this from happening again, and we also plan to establish a dedicated communication channel for sports between China and Nigeria," the envoy added.

The 2025 World Athletics Relays took place from May 10 to 12, with Team Nigeria originally scheduled to compete in four events: men's and women's 4x100m relays, as well as mixed 4x100m and 4x400m relays.

The competition served as a qualifying event for the World Athletics Championships in Japan later this year, with the top 14 countries in each event earning automatic qualification for the relay races. Nigeria's absence means the team has missed this opportunity for direct qualification.