Minister of Youths and Sports, Solomon Dalung, on Thursday, advised the D’Tigress to compete “clean and fair“ at the 2018 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.
Dalung gave the advice in Abuja at a farewell reception in honour of the D’Tigress, as the team prepares to depart for Turkey for friendly matches ahead of the World Cup in Spain.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Nigerian senior women’s national team, D’Tigress will play in Group B along side with Australia, Argentina and Turkey as the competition dunks off in September 22.
According to Dalung, the team is one of the teams the country is hopeful and satisfied with their outing and performance.
Dalung said: “It is a compact team and patriotic and determines at every time to make the country proud at every time.
“So as they move out from their trainings and the unity amongst them, the organisational capacity, we are indeed hopeful that the team will go a long way in their outing in Spain.
“This administration has a principle and that is, that we believe that anything that we are going to gain should be very clean.
“Meaning that there should be no cutting of corners, as young people, they need to be guided right.
“We need to make them resist the temptation of thinking that in their zeal to make their country proud, they can take prohibited substances.
“That will at the end of the day not only destroy them as individuals, but the integrity of the country.
“So if we are losing, we should lose gallantly and clean, free and fair but if we must win, it should not be tinted, we will not welcome any tinted troupe in Nigeria.”
Dalung also pledged the Federal Government continued support for the team.
Early, Head Coach of D’Tigress, Otis Hughley, said his target for the team was a gold medal.
He said that team was strong enough to with stand other counterparts in Spain.
Hughley said: “Our target is to get gold medal. Nigeria is a very strong in strength and very intelligent and we have to build on that and take the advantage of it.
“We are going to be a team to reckon with in Spain and at the end of the World Cup, people’s will have a different perception of Nigeria’s basketball.”
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