D’Tigers walk over Mali, book second round ticket

• Meet Uganda In Today’s Fixture

After suffering defeat against Cape Verde in its first match of the 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifier on Friday in Kigali, Rwanda, D’Tigers had a walk over against Mali in yesterday’s second group A match and have secured a second round ticket.

The Malian senior men’s basketball team continued their strike in a second consecutive game by also boycotting their match against the Nigerian side.

According to reports, the Mali national team had been at loggerhead with their basketball federation, owing to non-payment of their allowances and bonuses.

The Mali players had refused to honour their first match against the Ugandan team on Friday and in the process got a walk over and 20 points awarded to Uganda.

They were scheduled to face D’Tigers yesterday, but once again refused to show up and the centre referee after waiting for the stipulated time, called off the game and awarded 20 points to the Nigerian team.

As Nigeria takes on Uganda, the Nigeria Basketball Vice President, Babs Ogunade, has expressed optimism that D’Tigers will come out victorious in today’s encounter.