By Oluwatobiloba Zeal-Adepetu Kumoye
The FIBA Africa Zone 3 U-16 Afrobasket Qualifiers dunks off on Thursday at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Indoor Sports Hall, Monrovia, the Liberian capital.
Three countries, Cote D’Ivoire, Benin and host Liberia, will be slamming and dunking in the male and female under-16 categories for the sole ticket in both categories to the FIBA U-16 Afrobasket Finals in Kigali, Rwanda in September.
The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), under the leadership of President Musa Kida failed to put together a team for both qualifiers, which selects West Africa’s representative at the Afrobasket Finals.
The President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, is yet to give any reason for failure to field a team at the event.
The Nigeria Basketball Federation tops the list of countries that failed to show up at the event, with Ghana and Niger joining the list of absentees.
This sad news was made public on Wednesday by the LBA Secrerary General, Calvin Diggs, who was on line from Monrovia. He went on to add that despite the no-show of the three countries for no concrete reason, they will do their best to ensure a successful hosting.
Togo U-16 Teams could not travel to Liberia due to civil unrest in their country and Burkina Faso withdrew at the last minute due to lack of funds.
In the same vein, FIBA Africa Zone 3 President, Colonel Samuel Ahmedu, in an interview with newsmen, in Liberia last night on arrival from Nigeria, stated that from the enthusiasm shown by the participating teams on arrival, the tournament promises to be very competitive.
The MRI testing for players to ascertain their ages and Pre match/Technical Meeting holds today.
