Ifeanyi Eduzor
President of Nigeria Basketball Federation, Engr. Musa Kida said that there is need for the Sports Ministry and all basketball stake holders to ensure early preparation of D’Tigers ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
D’Tigers last week defeated fellow West African country, Cote d’Ivoire and Asian giants and host of this year’s FIBA World Cup, China in their classification match to book the sole African ticket for the Olympics.
Speaking with The Nigerian Xpress Sports, Kida stated that he like every other Nigerian is happy with the team’s performance but was quick to add that early preparation will make the team give a good account of itself in Japan.
“ I’m very excited with the performance of the team especially in their game against China, which to me was the mother of all games because the Chinese threw everything into that game with their home fans urging them on but at the end of the day, we came out victorious.
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“Having qualified for the Olympics, the next thing should be early preparation because that is the only way we can get it right in Japan.
“ There is need for the Sports Minister and all stake holders to map out strategies on early preparation as that is the only way we can make any meaningful impact in Japan”, he stated.
Kida while expressing confidence on the ability of the team to represent the country well at the Olympics, stressed the need for corporate organisations to invest in basketball in order to surpass the successes already recorded in the sports.
“Am appealing to corporate Nigeria to partner with Nigeria Basketball Federation as is done in other countries to fully develop basketball in the country.
“Their support is more needed now that we have booked an Olympic ticket because Government cannot do it alone.
“As you’re aware, we’ve recorded some successes but we need corporate support to not only consolidate on our success but to surpass it and put Nigerian basketball on another pedestal,” Kida said.
