June 02, (THEWILL) – The Executive Committee of the World basketball governing body, FIBA, has removed Nigeria from the schedule for the Women’s Basketball World Cup this year and replaced D’Tigress with Mali’s female team.
The decision came after the Federal Government unilaterally decided to withdraw the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) from all international basketball contests and activities for a period of two years, as THEWILL reported.
FIBA had entered further conversations with the NBBF, and when it became evident that, despite FIBA’s request, the NBBF was unable to confirm its participation in the World Cup 2022 due to the conditions created by the government’s decision, FIBA had to act.
Given the numerous strict deadlines that cannot be postponed in order to ensure the successful staging of the World Cup (visa procedures, schedules, ticket sales, accommodations, friendly games, preliminary rosters, flight tickets, accreditations, etc) and to protect the competition’s integrity, the FIBA Executive Committee arrived at a two-part decision that read:
“Nigeria’s withdrawal from the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022 is confirmed.
“Mali, as the next ranked team from Group B of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022 Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade, is invited to participate in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022.”
FIBA noted that in due course, they will announce any further decisions regarding the NBBF’s participation in additional FIBA events, as well as any potential disciplinary consequences.
