Four Nigerian club-sides will this weekend storm Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso for the 2014 Africa Champions Cup Zone-3 qualifiers billed for October 20 through 29.
The four clubs two men and two women teams are seeking qualification for the four tickets available for the final round of the continent biggest club championship slated for November and December in Tunisia.
Campaigning alongside six other men teams from Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin Nigeria league champion Kano Pillars and runner-up Mark Mentors basketball clubs will compete for the two available slot to the final round.
While First Bank basketball club and Dolphins basketball club will be up against opposition from teams from Burkina Faso and Niger Republic as only four women clubs enter for the zone qualifiers which will produce two teams for the final round.
The FIBA Africa Zone-3 qualifiers is not new to Kano Pillars Mark Mentors basketball club of Abuja on the other hand will be making it debut in the continental qualifier but with rich roster.
First Bank basketball club head coach, Adewumi Aderemi hinted that his wards are ready for any opposition as they seek to qualify for the finals billed for Tunisia next month.
“We know what is expected from us and we are very focus in achieving that goal, so nothing short of making it to Tunisia will be accepted from the players.
“We have the same set of players that won the Nigeria league title with us but might look to strengthen the roster for the final round.
First Bank basketball club will bank on experience of reigning most valuable player (MVP) in the Nigerian league Chioma Udeaja, team captain Oluchi Nzekwe and other younger players to help with the qualification.
Chairman Mark Mentors basketball club Igoche Mark has enjoined the technical crew and players to be a good ambassador of not just the club but of Nigeria, urging them to remember that they are going to represent the entire country at the Burkina Faso qualifier.
He, however, challenge them to ensure the qualification of the team for the final round notwithstanding the fact that they are debutant.
Meanwhile the Secretariat of the continental body FIBA Africa has release the names of the officials for the Zone-3 qualifiers this is made up of two match commissioners, five accompanying referees and four neutral referees.
The two match commissioners are Iddrisu Ayambire from Ghana and Mamadou Belem from Burkina Faso, the five accompanying referees includes three Nigerians – Babatunde Popoola, Olayinka Famogbiyele and Kingsley Ojeaburu; Abdoulaye Kamagate from Cote d’Ivoire and Mouhamadou Kadir from Niger Republic, while the neutral referees are Sami Belgharek (Tunisia), Tarek Ben Ltaifa (Tunisia), Youssouf Maiga (Mali) and Nourou Djeri (Togo).
The competition will be officiated according to FIBA rule of two and three-man officiating.
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