Nigeria’s male basketball national team D’Tigers will now feature at the 2025 FIBA Afrobasket qualifiers starting in Monastir, Tunisia on Friday.
This was after the Ministry of Sports Development waded in late-minute.
Bold Sports had earlier reported that the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) had pulled D’Tigers out of the qualifiers due to paucity of funds.
In a statement on Wednesday, the NBBF pointed to a lack of financial support from the sports ministry as the reason for withdrawing from the competition.
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The sports ministry in a statement on Thursday however said it has given D’Tigers clearance to participate in the qualifiers.
According to the statement, the Minister of Sports Development, John Owah, assured that the debts would be cleared in three weeks.
The statement read, “The Nigeria senior male national basketball team, the D’Tigers, would be competing for honours at the 2025 Afrobasket qualifiers starting Friday in Monastir, Tunisia.
“There have been palpable concerns in the basketball community, when it seemed that the team would not be participating at the 2025 Afrobasket qualifiers window-1, due to the paucity of funds that the ministry of sports is facing.
“However, the Honourable Minister for Sports development, Senator John Owan Enoh, has given his consent for the NBBF leadership to do all that they can to see that the D’Tigers participate in the qualifiers, with an assurance that the necessary funds will be approved and the funds released within the next three weeks, to pay for the flight tickets of the team, allowances and other logistics for the qualifiers. We can now authoritatively confirm that the D’Tigers are on their way to Tunisia and should arrive at the nick of time for the qualifiers and their match.”
NBBF President Ahmadu Musa-Kida said, “Yes, even though this is coming late, it is heart-warming that our boys would eventually take part in the qualifiers for the 2025 Afrobasket championship.
“The board of the NBBF is deeply grateful to the Honorable Minister of Sports, Senator John Owan Enoh, for coming good with his timely support and of course, saving the country from disgrace, and another FIBA ban.”
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