ABUJA, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria on Friday fired the coach of its women's national basketball team ahead of the 2018 FIBA Women's World Cup in Spain.
The Nigeria Basketball Federation (NNBF) said it sacked the 55-year-old Sam Vincent over "numerous conflicting commitments which had affected his duties as the head coach of the women national team."
Among other issues, the local basketball federation accused Vincent of having abandoned the team in its camp in Atlanta since Friday of last week.
"You left without permission from anybody and you have continuously remained absent," according to an official letter written to the coach by NBBF president, Musa Kida.
A spokesperson of the local basketball federation Afolabi Oni said the coach's sacking was a decision taken after extensive consultations and assessment of the team's progress in camp and in view of the importance of giving the team the best of preparation possible for the World Cup.
"Following investigations, the 2017 Afrobasket winning coach was found guilty of abandoning the team due to other conflicting professional engagements within the United States," the spokesperson said.
In August 2017, Vincent led the Nigerian women's basketball team to qualify for the World Cup by winning the 2017 Afrobasket Championship in Mali.
Vincent has been temporarily replaced by assistant coach Peter Ahmedu.
