1.0Mathematical 7https://mathematical7.com/m7rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="ep85v9UCma"><a href="https://mathematical7.com/m7/basketball-and-football-in-the-woods/">Basketball and Football – in the woods!</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://mathematical7.com/m7/basketball-and-football-in-the-woods/embed/#?secret=ep85v9UCma" width="600" height="338" title="“Basketball and Football – in the woods!” — Mathematical 7" data-secret="ep85v9UCma" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script> /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); //# sourceURL=https://mathematical7.com/m7/wp-includes/js/wp-embed.min.js </script> https://mathematical7.com/m7/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Nigeria_Basketball.jpg275183There have been two very significant developments in Nigerian sports this past week. The first is that November 30, 2017, came and went and the world did not end! The second is that Nigeria escaped by a hair’s breadth what would have definitely become the worst possible scandal in the country’s football history. Let us take a look at the first situation. The impression was given that if nothing was done by November 30 to resolve the crisis in the basketball federation in favour of the position of the National Sports Commission and the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC) that openly supported one faction of the two feuding boards of the Nigerian Basketball Federation the country would be banned from international basketball. So, from August to November 30th, everyone was walking on tinder wood. The government-supported faction took control of the country’s basketball and acted as if the three months would not come to an end. Somehow they acted as if they would continue to rule even if the issues that created the crisis were not resolved because, typically, no one takes on the government and wins. But not so this time. The matter was not resolved. The other faction that was more in control of the major stakeholders (the clubs), determined to follow the matter through to a logical and legal conclusion based on the fundamental principle that sports federations are independent private bodies that must not be directly influenced by third parties (including government), stood their ground and waited patiently. The NOC, saddled by FIBA with the responsibility to intervene and resolve the matter, could not do so successfully because they had been complicit in the matter from the start and could not now become neutral arbiters. What followed was ‘the silence of the graveyard’. A very small matter became a monster. This week FIBA returned in the form of a letter to the federation. The international body would send a three-man delegation to the country to conduct their own findings and report back to it by March 10, 2018. The initial administrative mandate was extended. The facts of the matter have been so simple and straightforward that I am amazed an entire NOC, custodians of the ethics of sports, and a body whose mantra is conflict resolution and promotion of peace could not observe the simple fair play rule and resolve the matter amicably. The reason for their failure is simple: They took sides and got involved in the internal affair of a federation, an anathema to the Olympic charter. Now, the matter has been taken off the hands of Nigeria. It will be determined by FIBA and everyone would have to face the reality that the matter had been very simple all the time. The two elections were pronounced flawed. New elections will be conducted using new guidelines that will be extracted from a constitution of the federation that shall be ratified by the general assembly of basketball stakeholders. It will not be the Ministry’s or NOC’s constitution!