The Zimbabwe Under 18 men basketball squad is seeking a wild card entry into the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) African Championships to be held in Rwanda in September.
Basketball Union of Zimbabwe (Buz) competitions director Simon Lawson said Zimbabwe stood a very good chance of qualifying for the games after Buz applied to Fiba to be considered for a wild card entry.
This came after the Zimbabwean team failed to secure automatic qualification for the games after losing to Mozambique during the Zone Six Basketball qualifiers last month.
Zimbabwe managed to beat Malawi but they came unstuck against a well-drilled Mozambique side which sealed automatic qualification at the games.
“It would be nice if we qualify for the tournament but by the time Fiba reaches the decision, there would not be enough time to finalise all the logistics like travel documents for the players and organising camps for the team,” said Lawson.
Wild cards are invitations to any Fiba-organised competitions provided to any country by the Fiba Central Board, Fiba’s highest executive body.
Fiba makes the decision according to a list of carefully studied criteria, which includes aspects related to sporting performance, sports governance and economic factors.