The Federation of International Basketball Associations (FIBA) will not tolerate any form of interference in the internal administration of the Nigeria Basketball Federation.
This declaration was contained in its later dated 10th, November addressed to NBBF President, Engr Musa Kida and the Nigeria Olympic Committee.
This action, they said, became necessary over the recent indefinite suspension of the electoral process to elect a new board by the Ministry of Sports while setting up a Taskforce to run the NBBF affairs.
“As you are aware, under Article 9.7 of the FIBA’s General Statutes, National Member Federations (NMF) must manage their affairs independently without the influence of third parties and ensure that their officials are elected or appointed under a democratic process”, the letter read in part.
The letter signed by FIBA President, Hamane Niang and its Secretary General, Andreas Zagklis quoted Article 9.1.a. which “Requires NMFs to “[m]aintain full control and governance of basketball in their country, including without limitation, control over their national competitions.”
To this end, FIBA declared that it will not recognise any competition or result that stems from any event not controlled by the NBBF.
“Furthermore, as per our letter of 2 November 2021 to the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, FIBA expects that the NBBF celebrates its Electoral Congress no later than 30 November 2021”.
FIBA will discuss the current continued external interference of entities not recognised by its statutory provision next week
“The current situation will be brought to the attention of FIBA’s Central Board in its next meeting on 18 November 2021 to determine any other course of action as per FIBA’s General Statutes and Internal Regulations”.
