to the NBA and WNBA, which are the biggest inter-club competitions in the world, is the most successful country in the game, winning more Olympics medals than every other nation.
Now, Nigeria is seen as one of the emerging nations in basketball capable of toppling the applecart in Japan. Nigeria’s current men and women teams are seen as medals contenders because of the calibre of players in their squads, as well as their recent successes within and outside Africa. Within their squads are tested players, who play in the best leagues, including the NBA and top European competitions.
At the end of the training period, each team will be made of 12 core players and two or three on standby. This means transportation alone will eat deep into whatever budget the federation prepares for the Games.With the country’s football teams out of the Games, basketball faithful believe the Federal Ministry of Sports should channel more funds to basketball.
“The Olympics is not an inter-house sports competition. There must be quality preparations for the teams.”He dismissed questions on the propriety of spending N2 billion on the teams, saying, “People saying that the money is too much to take the men and women teams do not understand what it takes to take care of players.
“This list is called master list. This is why the coaches invite many players to camp. We cannot also invite more coaches than stipulated in FIBA rules. “If excuses were not made for the Super Eagles’ expenditure, I wonder why they would not attend to the basketball teams. “The Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare, should prove to Nigerians now that he is not a minister of football by helping to get the government to provide the money for the basketball teams.”
Basketball stakeholder, Pius Ayinor, believes the N2 billion budget was influenced by the country’s current economic reality. “They can also discuss on the standard of hotel they want the players to stay during camping for the Olympics, as well as deliberate on the allowances for the players. These players are Nigerians notwithstanding their foreign connections… they read news on the economic situation of the country.
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