This latest rejection—her third in four years—effectively ends Ogwumike’s dream of playing for the country of her parents’ birth, at either the upcoming 2026 World Cup or the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Speaking with The Associated Press on Friday, the 35-year-old forward said she has made peace with the decision.
“After the second time trying to appeal, I made my peace with it. The third time, I was like, let me say I gave it my all. It’s unfortunate, but there are just certain things you can’t control,” Ogwumike said.
FIBA confirmed that Ogwumike’s most recent appeal had been rejected. The federation cited her extensive history with the U.S. national team, including appearances in the 2014 and 2018 World Cups, as a key reason for the decision. FIBA rules discourage athletes from playing for more than one senior national team in their careers.
The former league MVP had first applied to switch allegiance ahead of the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, but her request was denied for coming too close to the start of the Games. A second appeal for the Paris 2024 Olympics was also turned down after she missed the application deadline.
Although USA Basketball granted her permission to seek eligibility with Nigeria, Ogwumike was left off the U.S. Olympic roster in 2021 due to a knee injury—despite being among the top players in the WNBA that season.
Ogwumike, who averaged 18.3 points and 7.0 rebounds this season for the Seattle Storm, is not alone in her disappointment. Fellow U.S. player Elizabeth Williams also had her application to play for Nigeria denied, while her younger sister, Chiney Ogwumike, was cleared under limited conditions since she had never competed in a World Cup.
Reflecting on her early years, Nneka revealed that she had once been advised by USA Basketball not to pursue a Nigerian passport—a decision that may have affected her eligibility later.
“They kind of scared us into not getting passports from other countries,” she said. “I wasn’t even trying to get it for basketball; I just wanted it because my parents are Nigerian.”
Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, has made significant progress in recent years—reaching the Olympic quarterfinals for the first time at the Paris Games before falling to the U.S. Ogwumike believes that her potential impact on the fast-rising team may have played a subtle role in FIBA’s reluctance to approve her switch.
“That’s kind of the undercurrent of what they weren’t necessarily saying directly to us,” she said, hinting at possible bias in the decision process.
Despite the setback, Ogwumike hopes her case will spark a broader discussion about how athletes of dual heritage navigate national representation in global sports.
“I gave it an honest try, so I feel fine about it,” she said. “Hopefully, this sheds light on how people decide to pick their nationalities when they want to represent their country.”