Nigeria’s men basketball team D’Tigers have been drawn alongside hosts Tunisia in Group A of the AfroBasket 2015 scheduled for August 19 to 30 in the cities of Nabeul and Tunis.
Nigeria will also face Uganda and the fourth team in their group will be the first winner of the three available wildcards, dubbed “Wildcard 1”.
Group B of the championship has Angola, Mozambique, “Wildcard 2” and Morocco while Group C has Egypt, Gabon, Mali, and Cameroon. Cote d’Ivoire, Cape Verde, “Wildcard 3” and Zimbabwe are in Group D.
The teams designated as Wildcard 1, 2 and 3, who will complete the event’s 16-team field, will be announced at the end of April. The first phase of the tournament will be played in a round-robin format, with every team taking on their three opponents in their respective group.
All the teams will then advance to the round of 16, where Group A crosses with Group C, meaning A1 will face C4, and vice-versa, and Group B with Group D. The tournament, which is the 28th edition of the championship, will be played in a knockout format from the round of 16, through the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.
Tunisia, who were champions at AfroBasket 2011, will be hosting the men’s competition for the first time since 1987 and the third time since the competition’s inception. They had earlier hosted in 1965 and 1987.
The winners of AfroBasket 2015 will qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics. The teams which finish second and third will compete in FIBA’s Olympic qualifying tournaments for the three remaining slots.