The President of Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) Musa Kida has disclosed that preparations have commenced in earnest to ensure that the 2020 Olympic bound D’Tigers qualify for their 28th Afrobasket tournament.
The federation’s boss made this known on Tuesday, while affirming that qualification for the tournament was non-negotiable.
Countries have begun preparation ahead of the next window of the 2021 FIBA Afrobasket qualifiers to be hosted in Rwanda and Egypt after the first window ended in February.
“We are not unaware of the huge task before us to ensure another seamless qualification for Afrobasket. We know that millions of Nigerians are expecting us to qualify without drama and that is exactly what we are working towards,” he said.
D’Tigers, currently ranked 26th globally and 1st in Africa, Nigeria is grouped alongside host- Rwanda, Mali and Algeria in Group D.
“No more minnows in African basketball. All the teams in our group deserve to be there and they deserve our respect. We need to prepare early and adequately to live up to pre-tournament ratings by pundits.
“We cannot afford to let our fans down. They are already looking beyond the qualification series between 27th-29th, November and 19th-21st, February, 2021.”
Nigeria will meet Algeria on Friday, 27th of November before taking on the host on Saturday.
D’Tigers will conclude their first round of qualification campaign against West African opposition, Mali on Sunday.
However, the top three teams in each group will qualify for the 2021 FIBA Afrobasket tournament taking place in Kigali, Rwanda between 24th of August to 5th of September.
