NBBF, sponsors meet over 2021 basketball season

THE Nigeria Basketball Federation is holding discussions with sponsors of the domestic leagues, intending to get the 2021 league season on track, the body has stated.

The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the finances and planning of corporations worldwide and forced sporting events to be postponed or cancelled.

However, the domestic basketball calendars have already been drawn, and the NBBF is in talks with its long-term women’s league partner Zenith Bank as well as Total Nigeria,  who recently agreed to sponsor the Divisions One and Two men’s leagues.

“We are in contact with our stakeholders, we wrote the clubs in November telling them that if things went well we should hit the ground running,” NBBF President Musa Kida said.

“We have spoken to Total Nigeria who are the sponsors of the Men’s Division One and Two leagues which is our big signpost  for grassroots development.”

For the women, Kida revealed that discussions with Zenith Bank were at an advanced stage.

“We are in a deep discussion with Zenith Bank who are also working round the clock to formalise the protocol all with a view to see how we can kick start basketball activities back home,” he explained.

He assured that as a responsible federation, strict protocols will be put in place in line with the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 guidelines in its quest to create a safe environment for all.

“We will put in place some kind of strict protocols that will allow us to play the leagues. We have drawn out all our plans again, but because of the second wave of the pandemic, we are currently studying the situation,” Kida promised.

League debutants Air Warriors of Abuja won the 2019 edition of the Zenith Women’s League while Impression of Asaba emerged champions of the Total Division One