Earlier this month Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered the stoppage of play for The Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF) from all international basketball competitions.
Buhari cited an ‘unending crises’ that had ‘plagued and nearly crippled’ basketball development in the country. Last November the country’s basketball federation was reportedly in danger of getting suspended due to internal leadership and election issues.
Despite the efforts of FIBA to confirm the participation of the fourteenth ranked lady D’Tigeress’ in the upcoming World Championships, officials in Switzerland have been unable affectively dialogue with the NBBF.
Due to the numerous strict deadlines that FIBA has to meet in order to successfully stage a major international event, and in an effort to protect the ‘integrity of the competition’, the FIBA Executive Committee has announced the following:
- The Nigerian women’s team will not participate in the upcoming World Championships which tipoff in September in Sydney, Australia.
- Their vacant position will now be filled by Mali as the next ranked team from Group B, as a result from the last qualifying tournament held in Belgrade last February.
The Nigerian mens team will face a similar fate if issues cannot be resolved within the NBBF.
The FIBA World Cup will be held in 2023 and will be the first tournament to be hosted by multiple countries. The event will be held in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia from August 25 to September 10.
The Nigeria Basketball Federation and FIBA had no commented on the issue.
Non-host countries that are bidding to join the Olympic qualifying tournament must participate in the FIBA World Cup in 2022 and 2023. The first two rounds of the Olympic qualifying tournament are scheduled for play in 2023.
If the D’Tigers of Nigeria do not participate in international tournaments for the entire two years, they will be considered ineligible to participate in the Paris 2024 Games.
FIBA will announce whether there will be any further decisions related to the NBBF’s participation in other FIBA competitions and any potential disciplinary measures in due course.
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