MEMBERS of D’Tigress have received their part of the Adopt-A-Sport initiative payments, the sports ministry has announced.
The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development had raised $230,000 from four banks to boost the preparations of Nigeria’s basketball teams (men and women) ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
However, D’Tigress complained recently that they had not received their own share of the payment from the Nigeria Basketball Federation, threatening to boycott national assignments if the situation did not improve.
The sports ministry said on Friday that banking documents from the Central Bank of Nigeria confirmed that each of the 12 D’Tigress players to the last Olympic Games in Tokyo in August have received $9,500 each.
A number of the players have acknowledged receipt of these monies, while many of them have not confirmed, according to the ministry, who said documents have shown effective transfers.
Checks with the Central Bank of Nigeria also revealed that the Nigeria Basketball Federation’s domiciliary account had been debited to reflect payments to D’Tigress players, while the balance of the $130,000 USD remains for the men’s basketball team D’Tigers.
The sports ministry said the processes for these payments commenced on 14 October, 2021, about the same time the ministry had assured the team that the fulfillment of the monetary obligations to thwasere being carried out.
