Nigeria will not compete at the 2026 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Africa Championships after withdrawing from the qualifying tournament due to financial constraints.
Gatekeepers News reports that the President of the Nigerian Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Adesoji Tayo, said the federation was forced to pull out of the West African Regional Championships in Conakry, Guinea, because of the high cost of flight tickets. The tournament serves as the qualification event for the 2026 ITTF Africa Championships, scheduled for October in Agadir, Morocco.
According to Tayo, four Nigerian players namelybMatthew Kuti, Abdulbasit Abdulfatai, Favour Ojo and Khadijat Okanlawon had been preparing for the qualifiers in camp. He said the federation relied on support from friends of table tennis and Babcock University to fund the training camp, but its request for financial assistance from the National Sports Commission (NSC) was unsuccessful, leaving it unable to cover travel expenses.
Tayo added that missing the qualifiers means Nigeria will also miss the 2026 African Championships, a setback that could affect the country’s chances of qualifying for the 2027 ITTF World Championships.
Despite the funding challenge, NTTF confirmed that it was able to send four cadet players to the 2026 Africa Hopes Week and Challenge in Accra, Ghana, while a 16-member youth team is also expected to compete in the 2026 African Youth Championships and BRF Cup.
