FIBA has ruled out any ban on Nigeria at the international level but rather extended the earlier deadline given to the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF from November 30 to February 28, 2018.
This declaration was contained in a letter dated 12th of December, 2017 signed by the Secretary General of FIBA, Patrick Baumann and addressed to the Secretary General of the NBBF, Chimezie Asiegbu.
Making reference to an earlier letter dated 26th, July 2017, FIBA through its Secretary General announced a further extension of the deadline till February 28, 2018, after reviewing and analysing documentation sent to it by the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) before the November 30 deadline earlier given.
FIBA said that the new extension was agreed upon at their Central Board meeting held on the 9th of December 2017 to allow a fact finding delegation which has been set up to visit Nigeria before the end of the latest extension ahead of its next meeting in March, 2018.
FIBA informed that the federation will be “contacted shortly to arrange the precise details of the visit of the FIBA delegation whose findings will be reported to the Executive Committee on the 10th of March, 2018.”
Following the validation of its mandate, the federation will now shift its focus to unfolding its long-term plans for the development of the game as the Technical Department have immediately resumed scouting of players for the first phase of the D’Tigers’ 2019 FIBA World cup qualification coming up between February 23rd and 25th, 2018.
