The U-16 FIBA Africa Zone 3 Afrobasket Qualifiers would expectedly tipoff today at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Indoor Sports Hall, Monrovia, the Liberian capital sans Nigeria.
Three countries, Cote D’Ivoire, Benin and host Liberia, will be slamming and dunking in the male and female for the available single ticket in each of the categories to the September’s FIBA U-16 Afrobasket Finals in Kigali, Rwanda.
The President Musa Kida-led Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), failed to put together a team for both categories to the tournament which selects West Africa’s representatives to the Afrobasket Finals.
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Aside Nigeria, other countries that failed to show up at the event include Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso and Niger. Togo U-16 Teams could not travel to Liberia due to civil unrest in their country and Burkina Faso withdrew at the last minute due to lack of funds.
This sad news was made public on Wednesday by the LBA Secretary General, Calvin Diggs, who noted that in spite of the no-show of the three countries for no concrete reasons, they will do their best to ensure a successful hosting.
Meanwhile, FIBA Africa Zone 3 President, Colonel Samuel Ahmedu, in an interview with newsmen on arrival in Monrovia from Nigeria, stated that from the enthusiasm shown by the participating teams on ground ,the tournament promises to be very competitive.
It was gathered that the MRI testing for players to ascertain their ages and Pre match/Technical Meeting holds today.