Volleyball: Rwanda axed as Nigeria breaks semi-final jinx

Nigeria women’s senior volleyball team progress to the semi-final of the ongoing 2021 African Senior Nations Championship in Rwanda on Friday.

The development is coming on the heels of the decision taken by the African Volleyball Confederation (CAVB) to disqualify hosts Rwanda from the championship, having confirmed they fielded ineligible players following an appeal by Nigeria and two others.

As it stands, Nigeria moves to the top of Pool A with 6 points and will face Morocco in her last group match on Saturday, 18 September.

Before the match between Senegal and Rwanda on Thursday, the Senegalese team wrote a protest letter to the CAVB control committee on the foreigners been used illegally by the Rwanda team.

Afterwards, Morocco and Nigeria joined in with their petitions to the Local Organising Committee (LOC) on the ineligible players fielded by Rwanda, which led to the latest verdict made by the organisers.

Before the verdict, the Nigeria women’s senior team had been denied access to their training ground on Friday while the referees were stopped from officiating matches.

With this development, Nigeria has finally broken its semi-final jinx, having reached the stage for the first time since 2005 when the championship was last held in Nigeria.