The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) finds it necessary to address the news circulating on social media regarding the non-participation of the Nigeria women’s basketball team, the D’Tigress, in the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games held on Friday.
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1. It was established that the team was not briefed by the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC) or the Sports Ministry on the schedules and modalities for the march past ceremony before making the two-hour journey from Lille to Paris.
2. Information gathered from the NOC indicates that over 12,000 athletes are participating in the Paris Olympic Games, but only 7,000 athletes were approved for the march past by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Each country was allocated the same percentage of their total contingent size for the march past. Nigeria, with a contingent size of 88, was allotted 41 persons for the march past on the boat. The NOC/Ministry officials decided to share the 41 slots among the federations in Paris, excluding Basketball and Football, as these teams were based away from Paris.
3. It is a known fact that the Sports Ministry had officially handed over all individual athletes and teams representing Nigeria at the games to the NOC. Therefore, it was expected that there would be no gap in communication between the NOC and the federations. This lapse in communication led to the national women’s basketball team enduring unnecessary stress, psychological pain, and fatigue from traveling from Lille to Paris, only to be denied access to participate in the opening ceremony, despite being fully prepared and ready.
4. Lastly, the NBBF has made the necessary preparations for the team to have a good outing at the games, within the available time frame and resources at its disposal. The federation remains committed to putting in more efforts to ensure that Nigeria is proudly represented at all times.
The NBBF expresses its disappointment over this unfortunate incident and assures the public that measures will be taken to prevent such occurrences in the future. The focus remains on supporting the D’Tigress as they compete, and we wish them success in their upcoming games.
