19th NSF: Late disbursement of funds cost us our matches – Zamfara coach

Tue, Dec 11, 2018 | By publisher


Sports

Usman Mohammed, Coach of Zamfara Women’s Basketball Team at the on-going 19th National Sports Festival in Abuja, said the team’s late arrival for the tournament was due to late disbursement of funds for the event.

Mohammed told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday that their arrival, just a day before their third game against Lagos on Monday, was part of the reasons for their defeat.

“We came in on Sunday and we were walked over two games already.

“We had financial challenges and it would be doing the players a disservice to just bring them here without basic provisions and something to hold on to.

“The Zamfara State Governor had released funds for our travels but bureaucracy delayed disbursement of the funds.

“In fact, some officials had to task themselves to ensure that we make it to the festival,” he said.

NAN reports that the Zamfara side played their first game on Tuesday and were defeated by a high-flying Lagos side, although they put up a spirited performance.

Mohammed however said that he was keeping hopes alive that his team would progress to the next stage.

“My players tried because we came in late. The support provided for us coming here was discouraging.

“If you observed, we did well in the first quarter but the fact that we didn’t have enough strength to carry on became a problem.

“We are hopeful that in our next games we will do well to clinch a knockout stage ticket.

“Of course, the Lagos side were better than us in our first game but we will prepare better for the next game and be optimistic that we’ll get the results we want,” Mohammed said.

Zamfara’s next game is against Plateau later on Tuesday. (NAN)

– Dec. 11, 2018 @ 12:25 GMT |

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