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Liberia has won the bid to host the Federation Internationale de Basketball (FIBA) Africa Champions of the Zone III qualifiers in June-2010, according to the secretariat of the Liberia Basketball Federation (LBF).
The Secretary General of the LBF told Observer Sports yesterday via mobile phone that the FIBA Africa Board, the highest executive body of the Continent, entrusted the organization and hosting of the Zone III Nation Championship qualifiers to the Liberia Basketball Federation, after Liberia eliminated Niger in the bidding process.
Some members of FIBA-Africa Zone III who are expected to participate in the basketball battle include Nigeria, Niger, Togo, Ivory Coast and host country Liberia.
The FIBA Africa Championship (alternatively the FIBA African Championship) is the men's basketball continental championship of Africa, played biennially under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Basketball, the basketball sports governing body, and the African zone thereof. The tournament also serves to qualify teams for participation in the quadrennial FIBA World Championship and the Olympic basketball tournament.
Meanwhile, according to the Secretariat of the LBF, Liberia needs about US$53,000 to successfully host the Zone III Male African Basketball tournament.
Though the secretariat failed to give detail on the expenditure of the US$53,000, but reports have it that housing, stipends and transportation of international referees, statisticians, mass commissioners and other table officials top the expenditure list.
At least two countries are expected to qualify from each Zone and lock horns with one another for the Africa's number one title as well as the three slots to represent Africa in the 2014 edition of the FIBA World Championship in Spain.
Meanwhile, Africa's 2009 basketball champs Angola and other two reps, Tunisia and Cote d'Ivoire are the three African countries who will be at the 2010 FIBA world Championship in Turkey from August 28 to September 12, 2010.
“We are hoping to play the tournament at our newly constructed basketball champ at the SKD Sports Complex owing to the rain; we believe this event will be a unique event, but we need money to make it successful,” the LBF chief scribe averred.
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