Hockey Nations Cup: ‘Nigeria’s fate hangs on fund’

Austin Balewa, Secretary, Nigeria Hockey Federation (NHF), on Monday said that availability of funds would determine the country’s participation in the 2017 Hockey Africa Nations Cup.

Balewa told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) by phone that the tournament would hold in South African in August, adding that the body would work to participate in the competition.

“We have a major Africa competition this year and we hope to be part of it when it holds later in the year.

“For that to be possible, we will need funds to prepare our team to ensure a good outing in South Africa.

“We participated in the last edition in 2015 and we hope paucity of funds will not hinder our participation this year,” he said.

On the federation’s proposed activities for 2017, the scribe said that the body had a lined up of programmes that would impact positively on the development of the sport.

He appealed to corporate organisations and individuals to complement the effort of the federation in moving the sport forward.

“The federation was able to implement some of its programmes last year but we hope this year will be better,” he said.