Nigeria’s D’Tigress denied entry to Olympic opening ceremony boat

The Nigeria women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, was not allowed to board the boat for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, according to a source who spoke to The Associated Press on Friday.

The source asked not to be named because the Nigerian delegation has not yet commented on the situation.

When D’Tigress arrived at the designated boarding area for the ceremony, a Nigerian official told them they could not get on the boat because it was already too full. As a result, the team had to return to the athletes’ village.

Attempts to reach a Nigerian press officer for comment were unsuccessful.

The team had traveled 138 miles (222 km) from Lille, where the preliminary basketball games are taking place, to Paris. They were part of a bus caravan with a police escort.

It is unclear if D’Tigress will make it back to Lille in time for the scheduled bus pickup after the opening ceremony, or if they will need to stay in Paris for the night.

Nigeria, which is competing in its third Olympics, will begin their games on Monday against Australia. The team has the only Olympic win for an African nation, achieved by defeating Korea in the 2004 Athens Games.