The Nigeria Basketball Federation has fixed Saturday, July, 20th as the new date for the commencement of the 2019 Zenith Women Basketball League. The earlier postponement according to the federation was to allow all clubs in the league complete their registration ahead of the new season.
NBBF revealed that the home and away format will still be adhered to as planned but in a different format because of the financial strength of the clubs. Teams have been divided into four groups in line with the traditional Atlantic and Savannah Conferences.
First Bank will start its title defense alongside arch rival, Dolphins, Sunshine Angels, Ekiti Angels, Oluyole Babes and Ogun Babes in Lagos. In Akure, Delta Force, IGP Queens, MFM Queens, Coal City Queens of Enugu and First Deep Waters will fight for one of the 8 slots in the National Conference phase.
Zaria will play host to Taraba Hurricanes, Kebbi Angels, Adamawa Angels, Zamfara Babes, Exousia Angels, GT-2000, Nigeria Army Amazons and Kano based AHIP. Nigeria Customs, Benue Princes, Plateau Rocks, Nasarawa Amazons, Blackgold Queens, Air Warriors Babes and FCT Wings will converge on Abuja.
The Teams will play a round-robin format which will serve as the first leg (home games) before embarking on a short break. Different venues will picked as hosts of the second leg (away games) after which eight teams (total of 16) will emerge to play the Conference phase before the National Final Four.
The NBBF President, Engr Musa Kida said, “We are mindful of the economic situation in Nigeria which has continued to directly affect the financial strength of these club owners and as a responsible federation, we will continue to work closely with all stakeholders”.
The federation assured that the sponsor (Zenith Bank) and the NBBF have already concluded plans to commence the league while waiting for total compliance from clubs.
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