D’Tigers slump in FIBA rankings
Nigeria’s senior men’s basketball team, D’Tigers, has dropped four places in the latest FIBA ranking released on Friday.
The D’Tigers slumped from 39th to 42nd position in the world ranking.
The former African champions tallied 299.7 points during the month under review to occupy sixth position on the continent.
South Sudan hopped from 34th to 23rd in the FIBA World Ranking to become the top-ranked African team, overtaking Cote d’Ivoire.
Angola, Tunisia, and Egypt complete the top five teams in Africa.
Olympic champions U.S. protected their lead at the top, while Serbia jumped up two spots to get to the second spot with a total of 758.9 points, overtaking Germany.
Meanwhile, basketball enthusiasts have called for urgent action.
Femi Olatubosun, a fan, said the D’Tigers had fallen out of contention and were not the competitive team we knew them to be a few years back.
“Sadly, D’Tigers has continued to drop in the scheme of things, this is due to lack of competition and absence from major championships. I urge the federation to look critically at this and organise some friendly games for the team before the qualifiers for the Africa Cup begin,” he said.
Anthony Bernard said the federation neglected the team, a powerhouse of African basketball.
“D’Tigers have dropped in the world rankings because there is neglect from the federation. The team needs to get back and challenge for titles. The federation should organise friendly matches so that they can gather enough points and regain their top spot in Africa and in the world,” he said.
The D’Tigers last occupied the top African team before the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and remain the only African team to beat the U.S. national team.
(NAN)
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