The Nigeria Tennis Federation has called for support from the sports ministry following Nigeria’s inclusion in this year’s Davis Cup Africa Zone III championship billed for Antananarivo, Madagascar.
The International Tennis Federation on Monday soft-pedaled on possible sanction for Nigeria despite the last-minute withdrawal of the country from the 2015 edition in Cairo, Egypt which fueled speculations that the country would be penalized.
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| Engr Sani Ndanusa, President, Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) |
However, Nigeria was included in the draw made in its London headquarters on Monday which indicated that there won’t be any sanction for the country.
NTF President Sani Ndanusa while expressing gratitude to the ITF pleaded to the Sports Ministry for early release of funds to ensure its participation at the four-day tournament billed for the clay courts of the Antanarivo University.
He said: “This is our New Year present from the ITF and we are not surprised because if there’s any country that the ITF has to be lenient with then it has to be Nigeria; our commitment to tennis has never been in doubt.
“Just last month, we hosted the Governor’s Cup championship which is among the top-rated Circuits in the ITF calendar. And in the next few days we will be hosting the Africa Junior Championship West and Central Africa Qualifiers which will be featuring about fourteen countries. This is the second time in barely two years that we will be hosting the event. We also hosted the AJC proper in 2010.
“So this has put us in the good books of the ITF but that is not to say we will be taking them for granted. We will make sure that we put in place all modalities that will not only see us participate but go for one of the promotion tickets this year.”
Alongside the hosts, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Congo DRC, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia and Rwanda are the other countries that will feature in the tournament.