President Buhari bans basketball in Nigeria for 2 years

The president Muhammadu Buhari Federal government administration has announced a ban on basketball in Nigeria.

According to the Buhari administration, the ban will is to prevent the country from participating in any international basketball competition.

The ban on basketball in the country was announced on Thursday, May 12, 2022.

The ban is set to take effect immediately and comes after leadership struggle involving the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF).

The ban sanctioned by President Buhari was made known in a statement by Sunday Dare, Minister of Youth and Sports Development.

International basketball governing body (FIBA) were set to ban Nigeria over the lingering leadership crisis with the NBBF.

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In the last few years, basketball has been a source of joy to sports loving Nigerians. The men (D'Tigers) and women's (D'Tigress) team qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

With the two-year ban, basketball is now under lockdown and the country cannot participate in international events as well.

This announcement by the Buhari administration comes after the D'Tigress qualified for the upcoming 2022 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup scheduled to take place at in Sydney, Australia in September.

Nigeria's also has several players in the NBA that has expressed interest in participating in the upcoming 2023 FIBA Men's Basketball World Cup qualifiers.

Milwaukee Bucks star Jordan Nwora recently stated that he intends to help D'Tigers qualify for the World Cup.

The latest ban however would mean that Nigeria will not take part at the World Cup tournament and qualification process.