Dalung lauds Eagles’ CHAN silver win
... Tells FIBA, no crisis in Nigerian basketball
Despite losing 0-4 to hostsMorocco in the final of the 2018 edition of the African Nations Championship played on Sunday, the Minister of Youth and Sport Development, Solomon Dalung said, the Super Eagles had recorded another ‘first’ in football history. He urged Nigerians to take the positives away from the CHAN Super Eagles’ second best performance in The Minister of Youth and Sports Solomon Dalung has told the International Basketball Federation, FIBA that there were no crises in the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF.
Nneka Anibeze, a Special Assistant to the minister said Dalung made the remark during a fact finding visit of three FIBA officials to his office on Monday in Abuja.
Anibeze quoted the ministry as saying; “the position of government is that there is no crisis in Basketball. We only heard and read in the papers of allegations against government of interference in Casablanca Morocco.
Dalung who was in Morocco to lend his support to the team and cheer them to victory said, the team recorded its best ever outing at the competition with their silver medal winning feat.
“Coming for this tournament, many Nigerians never gave the team a chance because of the way they prepared and their pessimism about the players in the Nigerian Professional Football League. But, getting basketball elections.
“Can a spectator take a shot from outside the field and the referee records it as a goal? Tijani Umar did not register to contest or obtain an election form and therefore could not have contested for the Presidential post. If he obtained election form, then he could have gone to the Appeals Committee to register his grievances but he couldn’t appeal because he didn’t even buy a form, therefore he wasn’t even eligible to protest.”
He said the Minister told the threeman delegation including the FIBA Executive Director Africa -Dr Alphonse Bile, Special Advisor to FIBA Secretary to the finals against all odds, the players proved many critics wrong about the standard of the NPFL which can only get better.”
He however enjoined Nigerians to see the team as a work in progress if the vision driving the current League Management Company running the Nigerian league can be sustained while adding the role of better preparation for a tournament cannot be over emphasized. General- Mr Lubomir Kotleba and FIBA Competition Commission member Fode Amara Conde, that Tijani Umar was a government nominee for 8 years and never complained of government interference until government decided to have democratically elected federations devoid of government nominees.
The Minister also thanked FIBA for their assistance to Nigeria through funding, grants and training.
He however, added that Dalung also appealed to FIBA to support Nigeria in the development and training of coaches and officials which he said is very significant to sports development.