The Nigeria Basketball Federation on Friday said it did not throw out Civil Defence Basketball Club of Abuja from the ongoing FIBA Africa Zone 3 Men’s Club Championship in Lagos.
Vice-President of NBBF, Babatunde Ogunade, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that the club left on its own without consulting the competition’s organisers.
Ogunade said: “The board had to bend backwards to accommodate the Defenders and they have already spent four days, slept and fed, played some few games. They just woke up and left the competition.
“This is indeed disturbing as it has affected the fixtures and the numbers of games to be played by participating clubs.”
Ogunade said the club’s leader of delegation to the tournament, Titus Ayodele, is a member of the NBBF board and he ought to know the right steps to take.
He said: “They own their team and it’s not the job of NBBF to clear players for FIBA competitions, because we heard that they were not properly cleared and were left to play with six players.
“As Civil Defence, they run a basketball outfit. We sent the guidelines to them one clear month, before we even sent to Kano Pillars and Gombe Bulls.”
Ogunade who is the championship’s LOC chairman said it was surprising that before NBBF could reach the Civil Defence delegation to discuss with them, they were already in Okene in Kogi state.
He explained: “There was nothing the federation could do then, because that was when I was away in Abuja.
“My journey also to Abuja was very imperative to the development of basketball as the Federal Executive Council had awarded N17.5 million to the victorious D’Tigress team who won the 2017 AfroBasket in Mali.
“Once the cheque has been cleared we will disburse the money accordingly.’’
Meanwhile, the President of FIBA Zone 3 and member of the FIBA Africa central board, Samuel Ahmedu, has expressed his happiness over the current level of development of basketball.
Ahmedu said: “I am so elated at the level of development of basketball, ever since the present Musa Kida board got into office.
“The current board has gone ahead to win the AfroBasket women’s championship in Mali, the men’s team came second with just two weeks of preparation and the junior national teams have also been excelling.
“And now for the first time the NBBF board is hosting a FIBA-rated club championship in a well-organised arena that has top-rate facilities. Indeed, I am very impressed.
“This is one of the best facilities that have been used for club championships since I became the president of the zone in 2014.”
He acknowledged that the withdrawal of Civil Defence has dampened the enthusiasm of the organisers, but the competition would still continue as planned.
He said: “This is life and they are in charge of their own team and they have chosen not to play and they left. It does not affect those who will qualify.
“They have lost the opportunity to learn and become better and they have exposed themselves to sanctions by FIBA and it’s nobody’s fault.”