Why Nigeria Deserves a Wild Card Ticket to the 2014 Basketball World Cup.

The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) has expressed optimism concerning the men’s national team’s chances of clinching one of the four Wild Card slots for the 2014 World Cup.

The Central Board of the Federation of International Basketball Association (FIBA) will announce the national teams that will be the recipients of the four wild cards to compete on the biggest stage in world basketball slated for Spain between August 30th and September 14th.

Fifteen teams from across four Fiba zones are vying for the wild cards following their inability to claim an automatic slot from their respective continental championships, which serves as qualifying tournament, in 2013.

Nigeria's Men Basketball Team, D'Tigers.
Nigeria’s Men Basketball Team, D’Tigers.

Nigerian Basketball stakeholders and members of the federation have argued that among Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Greece, Israel, Finland, Germany, Italy, Poland, Qatar, Brazil, Venezuela, Russia, Italy, Turkey and Nigeria; the only African nation in the pack deserves to be included among the quartet capable of showcasing a vast array of talents from some of the “best leagues around the world” while also judging from her track record in recent outings.

D'Tigers Celebrates their Qualification for the 2012 London Games Via OQT in Venezuela.
D’Tigers Celebrates their Qualification for the 2012 London Games Via OQT in Venezuela.

Nigeria reached their first-ever Olympics at the London 2012 Games following a successful campaign in the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament. And with the onus of being a first-timer, came the need to bargain for pride as the squad secured an impressive win over fellow Africans Tunisia.

Nigeria finished the preliminary round of the 2013 Afrobasket unscathed with wins over Mali, Congo and Cameroon and then knocked out the Central African Republic (CAR) in the Round of 16 before being edged out of the semi-final by Senegal 64-63.

D'Tigers Came Third in the Second (Guangzhou) Phase of the 2013 Stankovic Cup in China.
D’Tigers Came Third in the Second (Guangzhou) Phase of the 2013 Stankovic Cup in China.

They eventually came seventh in the Classification Round, thanks to a victory over Morocco in the wake of the loss to Cape Verde Island.

“Our team has a pool of sustainable talent in some of the best basketball leagues around the world that can perform and compete against the best at the highest levels of the game and our best players have committed to play in the Fiba Basketball World Cup if we are invited,” President of the NBBF, Tijjani Umar, pointed out to Fiba Africa in a recent interview.

Ike Diogu is a Household Name in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Ike Diogu is a Household Name in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Nigeria have impressed- to say the least- in African basketball, on their route to amassing six podium finishes- second in 1997, 1999 and 2003 and third in 1005, 2005 and 2011. In two previous appearances at the World Championship, Nigeria came 13th and 14th in 1998 and in 2006 respectively.

“The quality of our team was demonstrated in 2012 when it became the first African team to qualify to any Olympic basketball event from the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) since its inception and a chance to play in the World Cup with our exciting style of play will improve competition and television viewership,” Umar continued.

Nigeria Defeated Tunisia in the First Round of the London 2012 Olympics.
Nigeria Defeated Tunisia in the First Round of the London 2012 Olympics.

“Thanks to our team’s recent performances, basketball is now the second most watched sport after football in our country of over 140 million people.”

The number of documented players (men and women) including those in our leagues and high schools and universities is believed to be about 106, 950 with over a million of fledgling undocumented players around the country and the federation waiting to be discovered.

Like the NBBF President, a member of the basketball federation, Agboola Pinheiro, insists Nigeria are a perfect candidate for one of the Spain 2014 wild card slot.

“We will be in Barcelona, Spain for the World Cup because we have all that is required to be in the competition.

“This is because Fiba’s rules clearly states that only three national teams from one Fiba zone can receive the wild card,” Pinheiro insists.

“And Nigeria being the only country from the African zone puts us in a comfortable position.”

(Records from afrobasket.com and Interviews from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) was used in this report.)