Basketball in Africa

BY CHARLES MUTEBI AND DOUGLAS MAZUNE

Local basketball governing body FUBA is halfway meeting its minimum budget for the upcoming FIBA Africa Zone V championship after Coca Cola fulfilled half of their financial needs with a sh25m sponsorship
The beverages giant gave the cash as part of a sponsorship package totalling sh125m but FUBA remains with a significant shortfall five days to the start of the week-long tournament.

They are in talks with software provider NCR, SMS company D’Mark and Toyota to meet what remains of the essentials budget and hope is high for an immediate breakthrough.
“We will know by Thursday (tomorrow) which of these companies is going to come on board,” revealed Robert Buga, vice president FUBA and chairman tournament organising committee.

Buga is aware there is little time left but he expects “one or two” of NCR, D’Mark and Toyota to bail out FUBA.
“We are in advanced talks with them and we are hopeful they will come through,” he explained.

In the worst case scenario, FUBA will depend on the sh0.5m which each of Uganda’s male and female participants in the tournament agreed to pay.

Uganda will be represented by D’Mark Power, Falcons and Kyambogo Warriors in the men’s category while A1 Challenge, the KCC Leopards and KIU Rangers will enter the women’s event.

The tournament could attract as many as 24 clubs from eight countries around the region, with the winners qualifying for the respective continental club championships.

* Falcons build up games
Rwanda 117 Falcons 93
CSK 74 Falcons 77
Marines 65 Falcons 87

Mogas Falcons’ confidence has shot through the roof ahead of next week’s East and Central Africa Club Championships after a largely successful trip to Kigali, Rwanda, over the weekend.

The Falcons that fell to the Rwanda national team 117-93 on Friday edged CSK 77-74 the next day and wrapped up the tour with an 87-65 spanking of Marines on Sunday.

Manager John Ssimbwa hailed his boys for securing a decent result against the Rwanda team currently preparing for the Africa Championship in Tripoli, Libya next month.
“We had an excellent test in Rwanda. Playing a national team with players based in US and you lose by a decent margin is praiseworthy. We are now more than ready to take on any team in the region,” Ssimbwa said.