Nigeria has withdrawn its men’s and women’s flag football teams from the 2026 Flag Football World Championships in Düsseldorf, Germany, after the athletes were unable to secure the required visas in time for the tournament.
The withdrawal was announced on Monday in a joint statement by the International Federation of American Football (IFAF), Nigeria’s National Sports Commission and the Nigerian Federation of American Football.
Flag football is a non-contact version of American football in which players wear flags attached to their belts. Rather than tackling opponents, defenders stop plays by pulling off the ball carrier’s flag.
Nigeria had qualified for the world championships after both its men’s and women’s teams won their respective titles at the 2025 IFAF Africa Flag Football Championships.
Despite efforts by the relevant authorities to resolve the travel difficulties, the teams were unable to obtain their visas before the competition.
IFAF said it had made “significant efforts behind the scenes to explore every possible avenue” to enable the Nigerian teams to travel to Germany, but the attempts were unsuccessful.
“Regrettably, all parties were informed this morning that the visas would not be issued in time for the Championships,” the statement said.
The federation expressed particular disappointment for the players and officials, who had earned their places at the tournament as Africa’s continental champions and were preparing to make their debut on the world stage.
Due to the late withdrawal, Nigeria’s places cannot be filled by the reserve teams from the 2025 African championships.
According to IFAF, teams drawn to face Nigeria in the group stage will instead be awarded automatic victories in line with the competition regulations.
The withdrawal means Nigeria will miss the opportunity to compete at the global tournament despite qualifying as African champions.
However, the setback has not ended the country’s hopes of qualifying for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Nigeria’s men’s and women’s teams will have another opportunity to advance their Olympic qualification campaign at the 2027 IFAF Continental Championships.
A top-two finish at the continental championships would secure a place in the Olympic Q-Series, the final qualification stage for the LA28 Olympic Games.
Nigeria will therefore look to regroup and use the 2027 continental championships as its next opportunity to pursue Olympic qualification.