Basketball in Africa

Look at the harm this article has done to Zimbabwe. This article is being widely distributed in the region and the facts are contrary to what was reported, that the venue was and is excellent.
The windows were of little consequence as they are very high up and do not disturb shooters.
That venue hosted the 1995 All Africa Games and if you read the article that the BUZ president circulated, the South Africans were very surprised by the high standard of the venue.
Our own reporters enjoy negatively reporting on Zimbabwe and do not realise the damage this does in the region.

Besides the aborted Official Opening which up till now there is no good enough excuse from FIBA. As I understood it the officials did not like their accommodation and the issue of the boards which were not compatible. I believe the media should have questioned the unpatriotic behaviour of the University of Zimbabwe in refusing with the glass board which I know most countries in the region or in Africa do not have. Instead they let petty politics get in the way. The stories the media is reporting that the UZ eventually released the boards is not true because it was a school, Prince Edward that came to the rescue of BUZ. And the media keeps reporting that these boards at the UZ were donated to the UZ by SRC is not true because those boards were handed over to BUZ by SRC just as SRC handed over all the sports equipment that came with the All Africa Games to national associations. That is why the second set of boards we had at the City Sports Centre were removed and sent to Bulawayo by another ill-fated decision of a BUZ committee some 5 years or more again. The same BUZ that sent the current board to Chitungwiza where the glass backboard was broken in transit.

There was no reason why the official opening should not have gone on and an announcement to postpone the games as what eventually happened. The windows never became an issue with any country as they are too high to interfere with players sight. The lines being mentioned were the ones that were eventually used and no country had any problems with them.

I am a little disappointed that our media took such a negative attitude. Instead of defending the great work that was done by the young guys in BUZ for the excellent work they have condemned us and we will probably never get to host another tournament because of their not-so accurate comments.

I am disappointed.


By Roderick Takawira