Lagos — The management of Union Bank yesterday announced their readiness to host the FIBA Africa Zone 3 just as seven other teams for the tournament arrived in Lagos.

The General Manager of Union Bank Sports Club Mr. Tunde Poopola told the media yesterday in Lagos that the task before the club was one that would be accomplished in grand style.

"This is an opportunity to showcase Nigeria as very responsible in hosting and we taking the chance to prove we can organise competitions like this expertly. We agreed to host this tournament and we are giving it a good shot," Poopola said.

By yesterday seven other teams were already in Lagos preparatory to the jump ball this morning at the National Stadium. Apart from Union Bank, Nigerian Premier League champions Kano Pillars arrived in Lagos on Monday. In town are Zenith from Cote d'Ivoire, ASPAC and Energie from Republic of Benin; Swallows and Racing from Togo and NPA Pythons from Liberia. ABC of Cote d'Ivoire withdrew from the competition by the weekend. Teams from Burkina Faso, Ghana and Republic of Niger who are also part of the zone did not indicate interest to participate.

The host club will play the opening game at 10am today but their opponents were yet to be determined as at press time as the pre-match that will take care of the details of the fixtures was billed to start at 8pm last night.

Union Bank is hosting the international basketball tournament under the auspices of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF). The top teams will automatically qualify to play in final rounds that may hold in Tunisia or Nigeria next month. Nigeria has been placed on standby should Tunisia default.

The teams will play in two groups with the top two teams qualifying for the semi finals. The competition will end on Sunday.