2021 AfroBasket final berth is a must for Nigeria – NBBF

Nigeria Basketball Federation has affirmed the determination to qualify for the 2021 FIBA AfroBasket Men’s tournament, Extrasportsnigeria.com reports.

This was stated on Tuesday by the NBBF president Musa Kida as countries get set for the next window of the 2021 FIBA Afrobasket qualifiers to be hosted in Rwanda and Egypt. The first window was held in February.

The NBBF said it has set its sight on a successful AFROBASKET qualifiers campaign with gradual return of international basketball following the disruption of the global calendar due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kida said preparations have started in earnest to ensure that the 2020 Olympics bound D’Tigers qualify for its 28th AfroBasket tournament.

He said, “We are not unaware of the huge task before us to ensure another seamless qualification for Afrobasket. We know that millions of Nigerians are expecting us to qualify without drama and that is exactly what we are working towards.”

Currently ranked 26th globally and 1st in Africa, Nigeria is grouped alongside host- Rwanda, Mali and Algeria in Group D

Kida added: “There are no more minnows in African basketball. All the teams in our group deserve to be there and they deserve our respect. We need to prepare early and adequately to live up to pre-tournament ratings by pundits.

“We cannot afford to let our fans down. They are already looking beyond the qualification series (between 27th-29th, November and 19th-21st, February, 2021).”

Nigeria will start her race for qualification when they meet Algeria on Friday, 27th of November before taking on the host on Saturday.

D’Tigers will conclude its first round of qualification campaign against West African opposition, Mali on the Sunday.

The top 3 teams in each group will qualify for the 2021 FIBA Afrobasket tournament taking place in Kigali, Rwanda between 24th of August and 5th of September 2021.