Kwese Premier League winners to take home N45m

Winners of the 2017 edition of the Kwese Premier Basketball League will take home N45 million in prizes.

This was disclosed by Tijani Umar, the factional president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, on Wednesday at a news conference in Kano.

“KPL champions will get N20 million cash prize, while the second placed will get N15 million and the third, N10 million,” he said.

He said that the prize money was approved by the sponsors, and was aimed at ensuring that Nigerian basketball players and their officials are treated like true professionals.

Umar said that the prize monry approved would go a long way in motivating the players and their clubs.

“The prize money will help and motivate the players and also give them a sense of belonging,” he said.

‎He thanked Kwese for helping to truly transform Nigerian basketball and also for their continued confidence in the Federation despite the crisis.

‎On the leadership crisis in the NBBF, Umar revealed that the NOC has called a meeting to hold in Abuja on Thursday to begin the road to resolution of the issue.

“The issue in Nigerian basketball cannot be wished away, it cannot also be swept under the carpet. We must sit on a round table to reach a resolution and if that doesn’t work, we are ready for fresh elections,” he said.

Kano Pillars, Gombe Bulls, Hoops and Read and Kwara Falcons are the four clubs in contention for the big prize money.

Our correspondent reports that the new sponsors of the competition increased the prize money for the winner from N1.5 million to N20 million.

The semi finals will hold on Thursday and the final will hold on Saturday.