World basketball body picks referee Kingsley Ojieaburu for August tourney in Spain

Nigerian basketball referee, Kingsley Ojieaburu has joined a list of referees who will officiate at the upcoming FIBA Basketball World Cup billed for Spain in August this year, Complete Sports can report.

Following his appointment, the board of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF has expressed confidence in the referee while congratulating him on the recognition bestowed on him by the world basketball governing body.

Meanwhile, in a bid to constantly measure up world standard and to further attract FIBA attention, the NBBF at the stakeholders’ forum held last week in Abuja has ruled that all technical officials, specifically referees and Technical Commissioners must undergo regular training.

A total of sixty-one referees took part in the physical exercise and examination last weekend to determine their readiness ahead the jump-ball date of the DStv Premier Basketball Leaggue season while thirty-nine technical officials also wrote examination conducted by trio of Nigeria FIBA graded referees, Kingsley Ojeaburu, Babatunde Popoola and Olayinka Famogbiyele.

The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup will be the 17th edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the tournament previously known as the FIBA World Championship which to be hosted by Spain, will be the last time the tournament will be held on the current four-year cycle. The next FIBA World Cup will be held five years later, in 2019, to reset the cycle on a different year than the FIFA World Cup.

The men DStv league will dunk-off on February 28 in Lagos while the Zenith Bank women league retain it phases format with the first phase billed for Abuja on March 19.

Kwara Falcons basketball club of Ilorin and Gombe Bulls basketball club respectively have been promoted at the expense of Ebun Comets basketball club from the Atlantic Conference and Yelwa Hawks basketball club from the Savannah Conference of the DStv Premier Basketball League, both sides finished 8th  on the log at their respective conferences last season.