Nigeria In Dilemma Ahead 2023 Afrobasket, As Some Women Players May Dump D’Tigress

ODIMEGWU DOMINIC CHINYEAKA

As Rwanda prepares to host the 2023 Afro Basketball Championships, fears are growing in the basketball community that foreign players will choose not to join the Nigeria national team’s camp.

Nigeria, the second most successful women’s basketball country in Africa after Senegal, will participate in the tournament, which will take place in Kigali from July 28 to August 6, 2023.

These concerns stem from the federal government’s decision to withdraw women’s basketball from the Nigerian team, known as D’Tigress, at the 2022 FIBA ​​Women’s Basketball World Cup in Sydney, Australia.

This came amid a leadership crisis in the Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF), with some players pledging to no longer represent the country.

To complicate matters further, Nigeria’s starting spot for the World Cup was later awarded to Mali by the international basketball governing body FIBA.

In response to these concerns, NBBF Vice President Babs Ogunade said Camp D’Tigress will be open to all eligible basketball players who wish to compete for a spot on the team.

He stressed that preparations were underway for D’Tigress to successfully defend their title in Kigali and that the NBBF would be contacting players registered for the competition to assess their interest in joining the team.

In their last draw in Maputo, Mozambique, D’Tigress were placed in Group D alongside Egypt and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The other groups consist of Rwanda, Angola, Zone 3 qualifier winners, Cameroon, Mozambique and a yet to be named wildcard, plus Senegal, Mali and Uganda.

D’Tigress have an impressive track record of winning the last three women’s basketball championships. They have been unbeaten in all African competitions since 2017. The team won their first title in Bamako in 2017, followed by a second triumph in Dakar in 2019 and a hat-trick in Cameroon in 2021.

Preparations are in full swing as the Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF) says it is determined to build a competitive team to maintain its dominance in African women’s basketball and make a strong mark at the upcoming Afro Basketball Championships in Rwanda.