Tax waiver granted over Nigerian basketball kit

Olympic equipment for Nigeria’s basketball team has been granted an import waiver by the country’s government.

On Tuesday, BBC Sport Africa reported that the Olympic kit had been held up because of a customs row for over three months.

“Breaking!!!!,” a delighted Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) tweeted on Wednesday. 

“The Federal Government through the Ministry of Finance has granted the NBBF an IMPORT WAIVER for our merchandise from [our China-based sponsors] at the port. Heading to customs now to formalise and clear the jerseys in time for the Olympics.”

An NBBF vice-president had earlier told the BBC that his cash-strapped body could not afford the thousands of dollars in custom duty for the kit, explaining the delay on “communication and documentation”. 

Nigeria’s basketballers celebrated a historic first victory over the United States on Sunday, and will face Australia (against whom they lost a friendly on Tuesday), Germany and Italy at the Tokyo Olympics.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

Photo: @nbffonline/Twitter