By Chibueze Ogwurumba & John Atuke

Following the vacant slots in the Atlantic Conference of the Dstv Basketball Premier League caused by the withdrawal of three teams namely Union Bank, Dodan Warriors and Lagos Islanders last season, the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF has resolved to fill the slots in the 2017 season.

This was part of the decisions reached at the Executive Board meeting of the federation which held in Abuja at the weekend, according to a Communique it released yesterday.

The Communique stated that the “Board resolved to fill (one of the) slots in the Atlantic Conference of the Dstv League through the National Division 1 Championship”, adding that the remaining two slots would be filled through “other creative windows to be proposed by the Technical Committee of the federation at the next board meeting before the end of the year.”

The meeting also considered the new draft constitution of the federation and after appropriate amendments approved it to be forwarded to FIBA and the NOC for further consideration and input after which it would be placed before the federation’s General Assembly (AGM) scheduled for early next year for adoption.

Another highlight of the meeting was the lifting of the suspension of  a player, Victor Koko Anthony and a referee, Segun Adekanmbi for participating in the unregistered African Basketball League after considering their letters of apology to the federation.

Following the successes recorded in the sport from 2012 to 2016 which helped the country improve on the continental and world rankings ofthe sport, the meeting commended the “players, coaches, staff, sponsors, sports authorities, the media and all stakeholders for their tireless effort and contribution in the last two Olympic cycles.”