D’Tigers pull out of Afrobasket qualifiers over ‘lack of funds’

Nigeria’s D’Tigers have pulled out of the forthcoming qualification tournament for the 2025 FIBA Afrobasket. 

The team announced the decision in a tweet on its official X account on Wednesday.

“Despite several 2020 Olympians committing, D’Tigers will forfeit this AfroBasket Qualifiers window due to lack of funds from the government,” the post reads.

Despite several 2020 Olympians committing, D’Tigers will forfeit this AfroBasket Qualifers window due to lack of funds from government. pic.twitter.com/O5hZFX2b8V

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— D’Tigers | Nigeria Basketball (@NigeriaBasket) February 21, 2024

On Tuesday, there were reports that the players are yet to receive their flight tickets to Tunisia, the venue for the first window of the qualification tournament.

The tournament is billed to commence on Friday and the D’Tigers had been drawn in Group B.

They were supposed to contest against Cape Verde, Uganda and Libya for a place at next year’s Afrobasket tournament.

Recently, D’Tigers have been enduring forgettable moments.

Last year, the team failed to qualify for the Paris Games after falling short at the pre-qualifiers for the Olympics.

They struggled throughout the competition, which was held at the Eko Convention Centre in Lagos.

The first window of the 2025 Afrobasket qualifiers is billed to be held from February 22 to 25 across two venues — Tunisia and Egypt.