Chairman Gombe Bulls basketball club, Ibrahim Gimba, is very umimpressed with threats from the NBBF asking his club to reply a query.
Gimba said the club has no explanation to make to any group because they participated in a league duly recognised by the international body, FIBA.
“I want to make it categorically clear that we will not write to any group to explain our participation in the concluded Kwese Premier League. As far as we are concerned we have qualified to participate in the FIBA zonal qualifiers and nobody can intimidate, blackmail or confuse us as we have already gone far in preparations to represent Nigeria. We want to align with the position of Kano Pillars basketball club as clearly stated by the Chairman of Kano State Sports Council, Ibrahim Galadima who maintained that Kano Pillars duly qualified for the continent through a Fiba recognised league.”
Gimba said nothing can change the position of the two clubs and that they owe no group,any apology since the Kwese and Zenith leagues ran concurrently under a board and wondering why that of Zenith was accepted by those causing confusion while trying to dispute the men’s league.
“This double standard is pure mischief. What offence did we commit by participating in the Kwese league? He asked.
“This same league started with the Zenith league and the Zenith league was completed, so when has it become an offence to conclude a league? If nothing can affect the zenith league and it’s qualifiers, nothing also will happen to the qualifiers from the Kwese league. I challenge those speaking from both sides of their mouths to produce a letter from Fiba asking them to stop the Kwese league from being completed. If that can be done we will listen to them,”he fumed.
On Wednesday, NBBF President, Musa Kida ordered Kano Pillars and Gombe Bulls to reply the query sent to them inorder to be picked as Nigeria’s continental representatives.
He advised the managements of Kano Pillars and Gombe Bulls to remain focused and urged Mark Mentors and Civil Defenders basketball clubs of Abuja to be wary of their nominations because there has never been a time in Nigeria when NBBF nominated a team to represent the country without completing a process that is performance based.
“Basketball is the fastest growing sport in Nigeria today so these clubs must not allow themselves to be used. If they allow it, it will happen to them tomorrow. Qualification is strictly participation based,”he concluded.
