Sports
Former FIBA President Attributes NBBF Crisis To Constitution
Former President of FIBA Africa, Muktar Kahleh, has revealed that the major crisis rocking Nigeria Basketball Federation is from the constitution that governs the association.
Speaking to journalists after Wednesday’s meeting with Basketball stakeholders, Mr Muktar Kahleh was confident problems will be resolved very soon and the aggrieved parties will be happy again.
“The meeting was very successful, the two parties met and discussed, the honourable minister and National Olympics Committee (NOC) president were there and directors of federal ministry of sports. We had fruitful discussions and a resolution has been made on how to solve the crisis rocking NBBF.
He added, “the contending issue is the constitution, some parties are not in agreement with the constitution, and some are, but because of that now, the resolution is that both parties should go and look at the constitution”
“Whatever area they do not agree with, they should write and submit to the ministry and NOC. And 21-day notice has been given, within that period ministry and NOC will look at contending issues and we will call back for how to resolve the issues.
Meanwhile, the upcoming Nigeria Basketball Federation elections have been suspended until the issues surrounding their constitution are resolved.
The Ministry of Sports and the Nigeria Olympics Committee gave Musa Kida and Tijanu Umar factions 21-day ultimatum to resolve their problems.
“The Congress is not taking place anymore, no election for NBBF at the moment, until when the issues have been resolved. The two parties have come and sat down and discussed and I think it’s very possible that a peaceful resolution will be arrived at,” he concluded.
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.