Kwara Falcons are hoping to prove they’re worth their place at the Basketball Africa League when they travel to Dakar, Senegal in March to represent Nigeria at the third edition of the tournament.
Nigeria were represented by Rivers Hoopers in the inaugural tournament in 2021, but did not have a team in 2022 after they were disqualified by FIBA. The country’s basketball federation, the NBBF, was punished for breaching government interference rules and the Hoopers were left in the cold.
The Falcons, who qualified to represent the country at the 2023 BAL after emerging champions of the NBBF Final 8 tournament, will play in the Sahara Conference alongside 2022 champions US Monastir, heavyweights AS Douanes, and fellow newcomers ABC Fighters and Stade Malien. Rwanda Energy Group completes the pool.
After beating Nigerian giants Customs 78-53 in the Final to claim the championship and the prestigious ticket, their coach Jibril Baba Kadri was unbothered by the quality of opposition on the continent.
“We want to make a statement,” he told ESPN. “The BAL is a different tournament, it is a higher league, there are more people with vast experience and quality that we are going to face.
“But we are not going to go there just to participate and come back home. “
This is an opportunity that does not come easy so we want to make it count by making a statement when we get there.”
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