WNBA players Nneka Ogwumike and Elizabeth Williams won’t play for Nigeria at Olympics after appeal rejected
Ogwumike and Williams have asked the CAS to temporarily change their national status from the U.S. to Nigeria, as the FIBA compliance guideline shows that a player can potentially replace national teams if it is in the interest of developing the sport of basketball.
The players ’invitation was rejected by the CAS, according to a FIBA statement.
“Although both footballers played in the United States after the age of 17 and competed in the qualifying rounds of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (February 2020 and September 2019, respectively), they recently demanded an exclusive change in their national status. FIBA has refused to comply with the applicable rules, ”the statement said.
“In any case, footballers had to wait a period of three years after their last game with the United States in order to participate in the Olympics in accordance with the rules of Article 41 of the Olympic Charter, the highest law.”
Ogwumike, 31, is the eldest of three sisters and had hoped to play in Nigeria after leaving the US team and suffered a knee injury when announcing the US team.
With the U.S. team, he won gold at the 2014 and 2018 FIBA World Cups and was named the 2020 FIBA MVP qualifier. He was never selected to the U.S. Olympic team.
Chiney Ogwumike, 29, who also plays in the WNBA Sparks and also has U.S. basketball experience, has been allowed to play as a natural Nigerian player.
However, Nneka Ogwumike was unable to go that route because the roster could not have more than one player who is a natural citizen, according to FIBA rules.
Younger sister Erica Ogwumike, who played college basketball at Rice, is also on the Nigerian roster. In 2020, he was invited by the WNBA New York Liberty and then traded to the Minnesota Links. She never played in the WNBA and chose to attend medical school.
The sisters’ parents were born in Nigeria and the sisters have dual citizenship.
Williams, whose parents grew up in Nigeria, was born in England and immigrated to the United States in 1996.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/20/sport/nneka-ogwumike-elizabeth-williams-nigeria-tokyo-appeal-spt-intl/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fedition_sport+%28RSS%3A+CNNi+-+Sport%29 | WNBA players Nneka Ogwumike and Elizabeth Williams won’t play for Nigeria at Olympics after appeal rejected
