The D’Tigress, a Nigerian women’s basketball team, will not compete in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup this year.
The team was disqualified from the competition after the world basketball governing body, FIBA, decided to disqualify them due to the ongoing crisis in Nigeria’s basketball federation.
Recall that the federal government had pulled all of its teams out of international competitions due to its inability to resolve the crisis.
After defeating France and Mali in the final qualifying tournament, D’Tigress qualified for the World Cup, which will be held in Sydney, Australia in September 2022.
The FIBA decision follows discussions with the Nigeria Basketball Federation to see if the decision could be overturned to allow the defending African champions to compete for the continent.
Nigeria has been withdrawn from the tournament, according to the global basketball governing body, due to the NBBF’s failure to confirm the country’s participation.
Mali will now replace the D’Tigress as Africa’s representative, having defeated Nigeria in the 2021 AfroBasket Women’s Championship final to win their fifth title.
FIBA’s statement reads in part, “In subsequent communications with the NBBF, and despite FIBA’s request, it has become clear that against the circumstances created by the government’s decision, the NBBF is unable to confirm its participation in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022.
“Given the multiple strict deadlines that cannot be postponed in order to ensure the successful staging of a major international event (visa procedures, schedules, ticket sales, accommodations, friendly games, preliminary rosters, flight tickets, accreditations, etc.) and to protect the integrity of the competition, the FIBA Executive Committee has decided as follows:
“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, on the other hand, stated that it would make an announcement if the body makes any additional decisions regarding Nigeria’s withdrawal from international competitions.
“FIBA will announce whether there will be any other decisions related to the NBBF’s participation in other FIBA competitions and any potential disciplinary measures in due course,” the statement concluded.
