Nigeria’s national basketball team D’Tigers has criticised the Nigerian Government over the forced withdrawal of the women’s basketball team D’Tigress from the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup.
Any hopes of D’Tigress participating at the tournament was dashed on Thursday when the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) announced it invited Mali to replace D’Tigress.
Nigeria will not be participating at the World Cup due to the two-year ban placed on the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) by the Nigerian Government. The federation has been blighted by corruption and leadership crisis.
Reacting to the development, the men’s team tweeted, “Nigeria is the best basketball country in Africa. This didn’t happen because of our leaders. It happened because of the players and staff who put their blood, sweat, & tears into their work.
“Nigeria’s biggest threat from progress is Nigeria. We need change.”
In another tweet, it said, “We are saddened by the forced withdrawal of @DtigressNG from the World Cup.
“We hope someday Nigeria will be led by a government without corruption & greed. The future of Nigeria basketball is extremely bright and we are being held back by our leaders.”
