BY JOE APU
WITH less than a week to the double header international friendly encounters against Turkey on May 27th and 28th, head coach of the senior women’s national team, Scott Nnaji has confirmed that no less than eight players would be dropped today from the camp.
Nnaji, who was Nigeria’s assistant coach to the 2004 Athens Olympic Games where D’ Tigress made its Olympic debut told Daily Sunsport that the decision was to give room for stiffer competition for shirts.
Speaking on Sunday evening from the Abuja camp, Nnaji stated that having watched the players in camp for a while, he and his technical crew came to the conclusion that at least eight players would be dropped to reduce the team to 15.
“We’ve watched the players intensely for about a week now and have decided that some of them will have to go home. The names of those going home I can’t give out but at least eight of them will need to give way for us to concentrate on 15 players.
“I must confess here that the camping has been good and every player has given a good account of herself. Let me also make it clear that those that have to go home are not totally bad, but they have to work harder. They will remain as the nucleus of the team as they develop and with time become the stars that will rule the national team in feature.”
D’ Tigress would be heading to Turkey for a pre-Olympic camp and was billed to play against Turkey on May 27th and 28th, 2016 from where the team will head to Nantes in France for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
The 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Women will consist of 12 national teams, where the top five teams will earn a place in the 2016 Olympics basketball tournament. It will be held on 13–19 June 2016. France will host the tournament in the city of Nantes.
Nigeria’s opponents are Belarus and South Korea.