Basketballghana.com can confirm Nigerian side Rivers Hoopers Basketball Club won’t compete in the 2022 Basketball Africa League (BAL).
This is due to the inability of the Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF) “to ensure the effective organization of a regular national championship” in the season under review to make Hoopers eligible to compete in the upcoming tournament.
In recent months, Nigeria has been caught up in a leadership crisis involving Chairman Musa Kida that has affected operations in the sport. Rivers represented Nigeria in last year’s edition that doubled as the maiden edition.
Nigeria is one of six nations that has an automatic spot in the group stages or regular season of the FIBA Africa-NBA continental tournament.
This year’s BAL is scheduled to run from March 5 to May 28 with games scheduled to be played in Dakar, Senegal and Cairo, Egypt for the regular season and Rwanda’s Kigali Arena slated to host the semifinals or Final Four stage and Finals.
12 teams will compete in this year’s tournament; Egypt’s Zamalek won last year’s edition that was played out in a bubble due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
Below is a full statement from FIBA:
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
