Following the success of qualifying for their first ever FIBA World Cup, the Cape Verde National team is deep into the Afro Basket 2025 Qualifiers. At the halfway point of the Group qualifiers, Cape Verde is atop Group B. The team is playing extremely well and currently leading Nigeria, Uganda, and Libya. Their play at the qualifiers has been extremely impressive, as they are undefeated in a group with FIBA ranked #38 Nigeria. Not only are they undefeated, Cape Verde has scored the most total points in their group, while allowing the fewest total points.   With the experience gained from the FIBA World Cup, this team is on the rise and demonstrating incredible growth and improvement.
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Financial Support for Player Insurance
The next round of qualifiers will take place in February 2025, giving the Cape Verde national program plenty of time to build upon their success and obtain the financial support they truly deserve to take the national team to the next level. One of the areas that requires increased financial support is insurance for players so that they are not risking their professional careers while representing their home countries. Internationally, FIBA and elite leagues have agreements allowing the athletes to play at the major international tournaments, with FIBA reimbursing based on a players salary if they suffer an injury during international play.
However, for countries like Cape Verde who have little infrastructure and resources for their basketball teams, they are unable to provide the funds to support this agreement. This prevents players in elite professional leagues playing for their home country, thus putting their national team at a disadvantage. While the current Cape Verde roster is comprised of players who play for clubs in Spain, Portugal, France, Cameroon, Brazil, and the USA, some of their best players are absent. In order to compete at the with the top African nations in 2025, funding needs to be provided to ensure the country’s top players can participate with peace of mind.Â
Financial Support for Travel and Accommodations
The largest diaspora of Cape Verdeans in the world live in the areas surrounding Providence, RI and Boston, MA. Due to the large population here, there are currently a handful of DI and DII college basketball players of Cape Verdean descent playing in the NCAA. However, due to the lack of exposure and finances, they are not on the Cape Verde National team roster. Because of the lack of financial resources of the national team, there is little to no exposure to the Cape Verdean diaspora which results in talented players in the US being oblivious to their being able to represent and play for Cape Verde. The lack of finances for travel to and from qualifying tournaments and play in Africa from the US also prevents these players from participating. Finding sponsors to ensure sustainable financial support is key to enabling players from the Cape Verdean diaspora to represent their country at the international level.
With the second round of Afro Basket 10 months away, obtaining financial support to ensure program longevity and sustainability in the next six months is of the utmost importance. This will enable the Cape Verde National team to build upon their recent success at their first FIBA World Cup and undefeated record in Afro Basket group qualifiers. Financial stability and support will help bring the team to a new level of success at the international level.
