D’Tigers depart for FIBA Qualifiers after pulling out due to funds

Following last-minute intervention from the Ministry of Sports Development, Nigeria’s men’s national basketball team, D’Tigers, will now compete in the 2025 FIBA Afrobasket qualifiers which gets underway today in Monastir, Tunisia

It will be recalled that the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) had pulled D’Tigers out of the qualifiers due to “paucity of funds.”

However, the Sports Ministry in a statement on Friday morning 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 reads, “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.

It is not the first time that paucity of funds has threatened the D’Tigers’ participation in a major basketball tournament.

It was earlier revealed that some members of the 2020 Basketball Olympics team had volunteered donations to the team following non-committal by the country.

But their contributions were not enough to foot the bills of the team.