Paris 2024: NBBF appeals for early release of funds for D’Tigress

By Victor Okoye

Musa Kida, the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), has appealed to the federal government to release funds early to enable D’Tigress prepare adequately for the Paris Olympics.

Kida made the appeal at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the women’s national basketball team, D’Tigress, qualified for the basketball event of the 2024 Olympics in Paris in February.

This is the third time D’Tigress will qualify for the Olympic Games, having also competed at the Athens 2004 and Tokyo 2020 editions of the tournament.

Kids said the federation had made plans to ensure that the team had adequate preparation ahead of the summer Olympic games in Paris.

He lamented that paucity of funds had hindered it from carrying out its activities seamlessly.

He said years of internal wrangling had cost the NBBF much in terms of sponsorship and funding, calling on the federal government to release funds early for the participation of the women’s team in Paris.

He said there were plans for three phases of camping for the Nigerian girls.

“There would be reparation camping in Nigeria and Ghana with the pool that we have within the country.

“The second camp will be in the U.S. for the people who are playing in the U.S. and the environments there and then the last part of the camp which would be for the selected team basically.

“So, we have three phases that we are looking at and I think with that kind of preparation, we do hope that our performance will be more outstanding than the last time we went to the Olympics,” he said.

D’Tigress have won the last four editions of FIBA Women’s AfroBasket championships, showing their dominance on the African continent.

He said there were also plans to bring in more players to make the team stronger ahead of the Games.

However, the NBBF boss hinted that there would be no massive overhauling of the technical crew of the team apart from a few technical assistants requested by the team’s coach, Rena Wakama.

NAN reports that the 2024 Olympics is billed for July 26 to Aug.11 in Paris. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Salif Atojoko