Nigerians will still play prominent roles in the Final 4 taking place this weekend in the city of Luanda, Angola despite the failure of Rivers Hoopers of Port Harcourt and Defenders of Abuja to advance to the Final 4 of the AfroLeague 2018. Col. Samuel Ahmedu (rtd) has been appointed by FIBA Africa as one […]
via Nigeria’s Ahmedu And Kingsley To Feature Prominently In AfroLeague Final 4 — finixsportsblog
The Nigerian Basketball Federation’s steps to relaunch her youth programmes got a huge boost during the week following wild card invitation from the International Basketball Federation Africa (FIBA Africa) to be part of the 2015 U16 Men’s and Women championship holding in July.
The Nigerian U16 Women’s team will participate in the final round of the 4th FIBA Africa U16 Women championship which starts from the 10th-19th July,2015 in Antananarivo, Madagascar. While their male counterparts will participate in the final round of the 5th Africa Nations Junior Championship in Bamako, Mali from 30th July-8th August,2015.
The competition will consolidate the Youth development prospect camps and a chance to showcase the Nigerian basketball talents at the world stage. As the teams placed first and second in the African Championship will qualify for the FIBA U17 World championships for men and women slated for 25th June – 3rd July 2016 and 16th July – 24th 2016 respectively.
The training camp for the female team will open in Abuja this June while the male time table will be announced in due course.
The Nigerian senior male national basketball team, the D’Tigers have been pitted against former champions and host Tunisia in Group A at the draws for the 2015 FIBA Africa Basketball Championship which took place at the Carthage Acropolium in Tunis on Saturday.
The D’Tigers are ranked 24th in the World and 3rd in Africa will be hoping to roar past no 4 ranked Tunisia, who last won the competition in 2011. Also seeded in the group is a little known Uganda who are making their debut at the continental showpiece and the 1st of 3 wild card teams which will be announced at the end of April by FIBA Africa.
The tournament which will be held from 19-30 August in the Tunisian cities of Nabeul and Tunis will serve as a qualifying event for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
In Group B, defending champions Angola who will be gunning for their 12th title under the tutelage of new but experienced coach Moncho Lopez , will battle against Mozambique, Morocco and another Wild Card entry.While Afrobasket 2013 runners up, Egypt will hope to go a step further than their fairytale run carried them in Abidjan as set up an interesting match up against West African foes in Cameroon and Mali who threw up a suprise to qualify ahead of 2013 bronze medalist Senegal alongside Gabon makes up group C.
Finally the Elephants of Cote d’ivoire who dramatically ended up 4th at home in 2013 will have the Nigerian born Alex Uwora tutored Cape Verde to battle against, debutant Zimbabwe and the 3rd wild card pick to compete against in Group D.
It is the third time that Tunisia will get to stage the Afrobasket, having previously hosted it in 1965 and 1987.
Seven teams tabled bids for the 3 Wild cards available to the Tunisian showpiece. Amongst which are South Africa, Algeria, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Senegal, Congo and Guinea.
Nigeria sealed qualification to the 2015 FIBA Africa Basketball championship in Tunisia and the All African Games in Congo with a 63-50 victory over Burkina Faso in the 2nd Leg of the qualifiers at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National stadium in Surulere, Lagos.
The D’Tigers who won the 1st leg by 23 points in Ouagadougou jumped off the starting block in style, in front of the ecstatic Lagos crowd with an 8 points lead in the 1st quarter with the score line at 18-10 points.
Though missing a couple of free throws in the 2nd quarter, the D’Tigers extended their lead 32-17 to go on the half time break with a 15 points lead thanks to good offensive display.
It was a tougher game for the host after the break as the Burkinabes’ gave a tough fight in the 2nd half winning both the 3rd and 4th quarters 15-14 and 18-17 points respectively. However, a relentless Nigerian side held on for the much needed victory to keep the 2016 Rio Olympics dream alive, which the 2015 Afrobasket will act as qualifiers.
Burkina Faso’s Moussa Ouattara lead the floor on the night with 12 points and 11 rebounds in the losing effort with no Nigerian player recording double digits.
However, Azuoma Dike, Abdulwahab Yakubu and Abdulwahab Yahaya all finished with 9points apiece with Azuoma adding 6 rebounds to his tally. And Nigeria’s only home based player at the 2013 FIBA Africa Basketball Championship (Afrobasket) in Abidjan , Stanley Gumut giving a performance reminiscent of the performance that got him a national call up putting up 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists and captain Olumide Oyedeji adding 6 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists.
Nigeria is now joins 13 other qualified countries – Angola, Egypt, Cote d’ Ivoire, Cameroon, Mali, Morocco, Uganda, Cape Verde, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Gabon, Congo and host Tunisia- for her 17th appearance at FIBA Africa Championship built for the cities of Nabuel and Hammamet, Tunisia from the 20th-30th August 2015 vis-a-vis the 11th All African Games scheduled for September 4-19th in Congo Brazzaville.
Africa basketball governing body FIBA Africa has released names of officials for the 20th edition of the Africa Champions Cup for Women billed for Sfax, Tunisia from November 28 through December 7.
FIBA Africa Technical Commission president Abderaouf Menjour Tunisia), Madam Ben Said Sahoula (Tunisia) and Abdendi Hanafi from Morocco will serve as technical commissioners while Tunisian Nourredine Taboubi will serve as referee supervisor.
French-born Arnaud Sevaux will over-see the statistician with FIBA Africa Secretariat head of media and communication, Lamine Badiane heads the media department of the week-long competition while FIBA Africa Secretariat head of competition Julien Farran is the technical delegate.
Also on the list are three neutral referees and ten accompanying referees are listed below.
The neutral referees include:
Zouzou Nadège (Cote d’Ivoire)
Sarty Nghixulfwa (Namibia)
Chahinaz Bousseta (Morocco)
While the accompanying referees are:
Abdelaziz Abassi and Hatem Langar (Tunisia)
Olayinka Famogbiyela and Babatunde Popoola (Nigeria)
Sammy Wakaba and Ambrose Kisoi Mbalu (Kenya)
Banza Kalume Tonton (D.R Congo)
Kollo Guy Sani (Cameroon)
Clesio Ramos and Francisco Tando (Angola).
The teams will be grouped into two groups of five or sic teams if two other slots are granted teams seeking wild-card to the competition.
President of FIBA Africa Zone III, Rtd. Col Sam Ahmedu has appointed 14 Nigerians in the newly inaugurated FIBA AFRICA Zone III Executive Board and new commissions in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A release from the secretariat revealed that Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) board member Mr Musa Kida was appointed as the Zone Vice President alongside Mrs. Magret Abara and former Nigerian international now based in Cote d’ivoire Musa Adamu on 9-man Executive Board while 12 others constitute various commissions reconstituted by the board.
The Dodan Warriors proprietor appointed General manager of SuperSport West Africa Felix Awogu and Fubarah Onyeabor on the Finance, Marketing and Sponsorship commissions to headed by Vice President Mr Musa Kida.
Mark Mentors Basketball Club owner Igoche Mark and Former Nigerian star Mr. John Faniran were appointed on the Competitions commission.
Former D’Tigress captain Mfon Udoka and Obande Ogbole were appointed on the Technical commission while the Women Development Commission has the Proprietor of Dolphins Basketball club and Chairman of The Punch Newspaper Wale Aboderin, alongside former D’Tigress Mactabene Amachree and Mobolaji Akiode, Founder of the Hope 4 Girls basketball programme.
The media council will be headed by Mr Pius Ayinor and Adeyinka Elebute was appointed as secretary to the council while Secretary of Dodan Warriors Basketball club Joe Apu was appointed Administrative secretary to the board.
On constitution of the board, Sam Ahmedu said he picked a team of people who already understand the enormity of the task ahead ” The members of the board are committed to the development of the Zone in all ramifications. And are they are all fully aware that the task ahead of us is not an easy one but we are all determined to give our best”.
The other members that joined the 3 Nigerians on the executive board include Bah Florient of Cote d ‘ ivoire (Secretary General), Guebre Boukary (Burkina Faso), Coffi Torno (Benin Republic), Idrissou Gamel Ayambire (Ghana) and Lisa Sidonie (Benin Repubic).
Captain of Lagos Islanders Basketball club, Seun Akinwale has once again congratulated the duo of Kano Pillars Basketball and Mark Mentors Basketball Club of Abuja for emerging Winners and runner up respectively at the recently concluded DSTV/NBBF Men Premier Basketball League, while tiping them to surpass expectations declaring that “both are good as African Champion”.
Speaking ahead of the club’s Africa Men Club championship campaign in faraway Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso between October 20th and 29th, the influential captain said, “first, I want to congratulate them, because they are ours and they have proven to be the best 2 in the country.
Akinwale whose game time was hampered by a freak accident that kept him out of contention for about 3 months believes that with the new FIBA rule barring clubs from signing players from a rival local club is a welcome development as this will brighten the chances of Nigerian teams competing for honors.
“FIBA Africa says you cannot get a player from another club in the same country to compete for the continental assignment”
“I think that getting a player from another club usually breaks the team chemistry because the player is going to come in a short time, maybe in 2 weeks or in a month, bring his own team’s philosophy and playing pattern which may break the team chemistry.
”Akinwale who has already started an individual pre-season training at the National stadium, Lagos, ahead of 2014 basketball league season, bemoaned the poor showing of Nigerian representatives at the continental stage despite an impressive domestic record and tracing the recent bad results recorded to poaching of players from rival clubs rather than prosecuting the competition with players that earned the continental qualification.
“But I think that now, if a team is been there for a whole season, they have been together, I think they will be stronger and understand each other better to interprete their plays.”He praised the two teams for sweeping all other oppositions aside to emerge as representatives of the “Giant of Africa” at the qualifier stage.
“Going by current record, Mark Mentors and Kano Pillars are the best 2 basketball teams in Nigeria and Nigeria has one of the best leagues in Africa and it’s also challenging playing in the Nigeria league.”
“I think they will do well this time around”
Nigeria may weĺl boast of 10 FIBA referees by the end of October should Lagos referees Lai Alimi, olusegun Adekanmbi, Samuel Sofoluwe, Razak Okedeyi, Joseph Patrick alongside Musa Gambo from Kano and FCT referee Opeyemi Ogunleye succesfully complete the FIBA referee clinic and examination which starts from the 15th to 17th of October 2014.
The 3day assessment slated for Cotonou, Benin Republic, will see the Nigerian 7 regional referees join their other African collegues to be assessed on their knowledege on the newly revised 2014 Official Basketball rules approved by the FIBA central board as well as physical evaluation.
Today, Nigeria currently has 3 FIBA referees, Kingsley Ojeaburu who stands as the first Nigerian referee to officiate at any senior World organised event , when he arbitrated at the maiden FIBA World Cup in Spain in September. Oyo State’s Tunde Popoola and Yinka Famogbiyele from Osun State make up the Nigerian FIBA BIG 3.
Success for the seven,will mean Nigeria will have a total of 10 referees eligible to officiate both continental and international competitions come 2015.
Oluwafemi Adefeso
Head coach of First Bank Basketball club of Lagos, Aderemi Adewunmi has defended the early commencement of his teams preparation for the Africa Club women championship qualifiers later this year.
The camping taking place at the Basketball hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos started after the players were given about 2months extended break following an hectic basketball season.
The coach who masterminded a famous victory over Dolphins Basketball Club of Lagos in a pulsating final decided at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos enroute to the 2014 Championship revealed that “We started our preparation from August 18th because we do not want to wait for FIBA Africa’s letter before we start getting ready as we actually dont know when the letter will be out.”
“So, I decided we should start preparing for the tournament and we are still at it right now”
“We have a lot of young girls and we need to work all the year round to turn them into champions, so anytime the letter comes, we are ready to play.”
When quizzed whether the early preparation without any competitive match will not come around to haunt the team when the qualifiers starts, Adewunmi was quick to refute such claims and said a big club like First Bank with a rich history in women’s basketball in Nigeria cannot afford to joke with early and proper preparation.
“We have a tradition in First Bank Basketball club, we do not wait for official notifications before we start preparation even whenever we want to play the local league, we do not wait for Nigeria Basketball Federation to announce the commencement of the tournament before we start.”
The 2013/2014 female league award winning coach was elusive on his club’s transfer policy as they prepare for their continental challenge and was quick to jump to the defense of his players who have been together for the past 4 seasons saying barring any unforeseen circumstances, he may not bring in new faces.
“It depends on what happens because I believe in the present set of players because we have been working together for the past 4 years and i believe they are ripe enough to do well at the continental championship.”
“If I want to come in with anybody, its not going to be more than 2 players but right now, I am not thinking of anybody.”
Ahead of this year’s final of the 16th edition of the Nestle Milo Nigerian Secondary Schools Basketball Championship, the newly elected president of the FIBA Africa zone 3 Col. Samuel Anebi Ahmedu is looking forward to a great championship.
Speaking shortly after his arrival from Madagascar where he was elected the Continent’s FIBA zone 3 President, Col, Ahmedu stated that the Nestle Milo Basketball Championship remains the nation’s main resource for talent discovery in Basketball.
Col. Samuel Ahmedu who is also the proprietor of Dodan Warriors Basketball club confirmed that the Nestle Milo Secondary Schools Championship has been producing players for clubs and National teams in Nigeria.
He recalled that National players like Jerry Edwin, Azoma Dike, Igbien Godspower and Mike Ohiero are all products of the Nestle Milo Championship.
Meanwhile, a member of FIBA Africa zone 3 Communications Committee, Segun Ikuesun, says his committee is excited about the Nestle Milo Secondary Schools Basketball Championship which focuses on budding talents. ‘’The Nestle Milo Secondary Schools Basketball Championship is one of the best grassroots programmes. It is highly rated by FIBA zone 3’’.
The qualifiers for these finals had emerged from keenly contested qualifiers held in 4 different zones across the country over a period of 3 months.
Some of the qualifying schools are Dutse Model Int’l School and Government Girls Secondary School, Gwawaran, both from Jigawa state; St Augustine Seminary, Ezzamgbo of Ebonyi state; Osadennis High School Asaba and West End Mixed Secondary School,Bayelsa State.
Others are St. Jude’s Girls Secondary School, Amarata, Jesus College, Oturkpo, Government Girls Secondary School Gboko and CAC Grammar School, Akure.
Henson Demonstration Group of Schools Benin, Ilupeju Grammar School, Lagos and Yejide Girls Secondary School, Ibadan complete the list of finalists.
The 12 teams arrive Lagos on Monday, 11th of August. The championship starts on Tuesday at the indoor sports hall of the National Stadium in Lagos.
The Nigeria Basketball Federation has described the just concluded 16th congress of FIBA Africa as well organized and roundly successful.The congress which took place in Madagascar discussed the way forward for African basketball in relation to the new FIBA governance structure,competition calendar and format and also elected officials to steer the affairs of the zone during the 2014-2019 term of office
In a statement signed by it’s President,Tijjani Umar, the federation congratulated the continental body for it’s pro-active leadership and innovation and also hailed the two elected Nigerian members of the body’s central board, Muktar Khaleh,immediate past two-term president of zone 3 comprising eight west African countries and now President of FIBA Africa’s Finance Commission and Sam Ahmedu,the new Zone 3 President. By their membership of the FIBA Africa central board and as provided by it’s new statutes,the duo will become automatic members of the next NBBF board when the tenure of the current board expires in 2017.
The NBBF urged Khaleh and Ahmedu to be great ambassadors of Nigeria and rededicate themselves to the shared ideal of moving Nigerian basketball forward which formed the platform for their emergence.
Oluwafemi Adefeso
NBBF MEDIA COMMITTEE
A former head of the FIBA Africa marketing committee and president Dodan Warriors Basketball Programme, Col Samuel Ahmedu (retd) has emerged the new president of FIBA Africa Zone-3 at the 16th Congress of FIBA Africa held in Antananarivo, Madagascar.
Ahmedu, who was formerly a member of the Nigeria Basketball Federation emerged president of Zone-3 after an initial 4-votes tie between him and the former Zone 3 president, Muktah Khaleh also of Nigeria who then stepped down to pave way for Ahmedu to be elected unopposed.
Khalehs gesture to step down, it was learnt, came after a series of meetings initiated by Nigeria Basketball Federation president Tijjani Umar with Ahmedu and other top FIBA World and FIBA Africa officials after which Ahmedu was given the all-clear by all eight delegates.
With that decided Nigeria remains in charge of basketball programmes in the zone which comprises Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, Cote dIvoire, Nigeria, Liberia, Burkina Faso and Niger Republic.
However, Khaleh remains in the FIBA Africa board as he is now president of FIBA Africa Finance Council. He replaces Hamane Niang of Mali who is now president of the African basketball ruling body after the immediate past president Mabusa Eseka of Democratic Republic of Congo stepped down.
Other zone presidents elected at the 16th Congress of the continental body are; Zone-1, Omar El Barshushi of Libya emerged winner while Rokhaya Pouye of Senegal leads Zone-2. Juvenal Lufuma of DR Congo leads Zone-4, Hesha El Hariri of Egypt replaces Morris Aluanga in zone-5, Anibal Manave (Mozambique) zone-6 and Zone 6: Anibal Manave ( Mozambique) while Louis Abel Ntsay ( Madagascar) remains at the helm of zone-7.
Olusegun Ikuesan
NBBF MEDIA COMMITTEE
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