MUKTAR A. KHALEH, President of FIBA-Africa Zone-3 and former Nigerian international, is also a board member of Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF). He spoke with WALE JOSEPH during the Finals of the FIBA-Africa Champions Cup for Men Zone-3 Qualifiers on a number of issues relating to the game in the zone and Nigeria
Q: How will you describe the qualifiers in the last five days and how would you rate Zone 3?
A: If one looks at the performance of the teams that featured in the qualifiers, one can conveniently say that the game is improving in the zone. Teams like Swallows Basketball Club of Togo and ASPAC Basketball Club of Benin Republic performed very well. I think they all gave good account of themselves here. In the past, these teams were no where to be found, but this time around they put up a good performance, which I think is improving the game in the zone.
Q: What about the general organisation of the qualifiers and the standard of the matches played?
A: The standard of the game is okay and I like what I saw, but talking about the organisation of the qualifiers, though there are problems, I believe there is room for improvement. We should not condemn the organisers because this is the first time a tournament of this magnitude would be organised by Union Bank.
Q: Why did some countries on the West Coast, like Ghana, Niger and Burkina-Faso, not feature in the championship?
A: I don’t think it was due to financial problems. Communication problems between the local federations and the clubs may have been responsible for the problem. A few days to the commencement of the qualifiers, a club president in Burkina-Faso called me to say that they wanted to come. Everything needed by the club, including money, was ready but they did not get their letter in good time. The truth is that everything about this qualifiers had been settled a long time ago. The federation may take the blame for this problem because of the communication gap between them and their clubs. In the case of Ghana, their champions, the Customs team can not claim that money was the problem for their withdrawal at the last minute. We did not got any information from Niger Republic.
Q: You will agree that corporate sponsorship is what drives development of sports, what is the zone doing to attract sponsorship for its programmes, apart from the qualifiers?
A: If you can remember, a few years ago, we had an Under-16 championship which was hosted by Benin Republic. The zone is actually looking at the development side of the game, a reason for the age group championships. At the senior level, we already have enough competitions. We hope to organise championships for the Under-18 and Under-21 next year because we believe this is where the future lies. With these targets, we intend to reach out to sponsors for these competitions.
Q: Two Nigerian teams, Kano Pillars and Union Bank, reached the final. What are the chances of these teams in the FIBA-Africa Champions Cup for Men Finals next month?
A: These teams are good and they did not do badly in the qualifiers. They only need to fortify their teams and I am sure that if they do this they stand a good chance of doing well at the African level.
Q: What is the board of the NBBF doing ahead of the in-coming season?
A: I can confidently tell you that we have secured a three-year sponsorship deal for the League, which is good for us. I can say we are ready for the new season. But for the qualification and participation of Kano Pillars and Union Bank in the FIBA-Africa Champions Cup for Men, the League would have dunked-off next month, but I can assure you that the League will dunk-off in January next year.
Q: Who are the sponsors and what is the package like?
A: There will be a public presentation of the sponsors and the package soon. I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag because it is not my responsibility to do the unveiling, but I can assure you that we have signed the deal. I’m happy to say that this is a new dawn for the game in the country.
Q: Can you throw more light on why the national Under-18 team lost their title in the FIBA-Africa Under-18 championship in Egypt? Some people have said it was due to FIBA-Africa politics?
A: I was at the championship and saw what happened. I saw the conspiracy against Nigeria and I know the reason was because Nigeria have dominated the championship for a long time. The bigwigs at FIBA-Africa felt there was no improvement which made Nigeria dominate the scene. I think that was why there was a gang-up against the Nigerian team. We lost the championship ourselves. We lost to a team that we had beaten very well in the group stage. When we played against them in the semi-finals stage, the boys could not deliver and the loss was not due to bad officiating. The boys couldn’t just deliver.
Q: What is your view on Nigeria’s continuous domination of the game in Africa at the junior level, but not at the senior level, especially against the Angolans?
A: The truth is that at the junior level, the bulk of the boys are from the home front, which makes camping for any international tournament very easy. The players blend before any of their outings. Even if there is no money, they still come together to train because they are hungry for glory. But at the senior level, because we want to use our best players and most of them are playing outside the country, bringing them together becomes very difficult because of funds. Basically, the problem is finance If we can bring them together ahead of a major tourney, nobody, even Angola, can stop them. In fact, not only in Africa, Nigeria can be among the top five or six in the world.
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