The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development says it has a duty to approach the Federal Government to reconsider Nigeria’s withdrawal from international basketball, but if only there are improvements in the state of the game and unity amongst stakeholders.
Last Wednesday, the Federal Government’s decision to have Nigeria withdraw from international basketball for two years was announced, as the Ministry promised to work assiduously to return the game to the top.
Issues ranging from leadership instability, dissatisfaction amongst players, and stagnancy of the local league amongst other serious concerns led to the decision.
A source said, “We have tried in several ways to solve this crisis in the fight for administration in the interest of all parties and players but we discovered that the more we tried, the lower we sunk. There were disruptive protests, we didn’t have a league, players were suffering, something drastic needed to be done.”
In a bid to kickstart the restoration process, the Ministry said an Interim Management Committee will be set up to pilot affairs for a period.
In a related development, the Sports Ministry has rolled out plans for it to begin its grassroots development programmes with a zonal secondary championship in June, across all the geo-political zones of the country leading to a national championship in Lagos or Abuja.
