Buhari Withdraws D’Tigers, D’Tigress from Global Basketball for Two Years

NBBF CRISIS FALLOUT

*Interim committee to be set up to manage domestic basketball leagues

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja 

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the withdrawal of Nigeria from international basketball competitions for two years with immediate effect. 

A statement issued yesterday by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Ismaila Abubakar, said the presidential directive followed the intractable crisis that has dogged and crippled the development of basketball in the country in form of the leadership crisis at the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF).

The statement said the decision to withdraw the country was made to concentrate efforts by the government towards revamping the sport from the grassroots as well as domestic leagues which have become moribund.

The sports ministry also said an Interim Management Committee (IMC) will also be set up to oversee the management and development of the domestic basketball leagues in the country to further address other related issues around the development and advancement of the game in the country and to utilise the period of break to address all contentious issues among stakeholders

“The Terms of Reference (TOR) and membership of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) will be announced in due course.

“In issuing the order, the Federal Government reiterates its interest and commitment to the development of the sport of Basketball in Nigeria as well as huge talents of our youth domestically in an atmosphere free of rancour and squabbles.

“Government therefore calls on players, officials, fans and other stakeholders of the sport to remain calm as it embarks on far reaching initiatives to reposition, sustain and stabilize the game of basketball for growth and success in the long-term interest of the country,” the statement said.

The federal government’s intervention came two days after basketball players staged another protest at the office of the Minister of Sports, Mr Sunday Dare, at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja over the leadership impasse rocking the NBBF.

The angry led by Players Representative in the NBBF Board, Mr Stanley Gumut had accused Dare of duplicity in resolving the post election crisis that had jolted the NBBF since January 31, 2022, leading to the emergence of two parallel boards, led by Igoche Mark and Ahmadu Musa-Kida, following two different elections in Abuja and Benin City respectively.

But it also seems President Buhari has only thrown away the baby with the birth water with the approval of withdrawal of the country from international basketball competitions for 24 months. 

This is so as the action will erase the gains made by the country in international basketball particularly as the male and female teams are rated number one in Africa.

The female team, D’Tigress, which qualified in effervescent fashion by beating France for a place in the Women’s basketball World Cup billed for Spain in September this year, will be hard hit by this decision as a no-show will attract sanctions from FIBA as one of the consequences of the self-imposed two-years withdrawal.

D’Tigress that are rated 14th in the latest FIBA world ranking have won in sucession the last three editions of the Women Afrobasket, while the male team  have also made tremendous progress by qualifying for the last three editions of the Olympics Games as well as winning the Afrobasket in Tunisia in 2015 after beating Angola by 74 points to 65.