By CAXTON APOLLO
Kenya has turned down an invitation to a five-nation men’s international basketball tournament to be held in Kigali, Rwanda, from Friday.
Kenya Basketball Federation vice-chairman Henry Shihemi said although they have not received formal communication, Kenya cannot participate because most of the players are engaged with their respective clubs ahead of the July 27-August 2 Africa Zone Five club championship qualifier in Kampala, Uganda.
According to the Zone Five president, Morris Aluanga, Rwanda organised the tournament to guage their strength in readiness for the Africa Senior Cup of Nations scheduled for Tripoli, Libya, from August 5-11.
Other national teams that Rwanda had targetted to play at home are Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi.
Aluanga, a former KBF chairman, said Rwanda officials had indicated that they wanted to play Kenya in their build-up matches in Kigali.
Rwanda and Egypt have qualified for the Libya event after they emerged second in the elimination round in Kigali between February 24 and March 2. The hosts finished runners-up to powerhouse Egypt.
Zone Five had two slots to Libya because Egypt had earned an automatic qualification by virtue of having finished fourth in the last continental championship, which Angola won.
Shihemi said most of the national team players are now engaged with their clubs – Kenya Commercial Bank Lions, Kenya Ports Authority and Co-operative Bank – for Kampala.
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“’The club championship elimination matches are less than two weeks away and no team can accept to be interrupted in their preparations,’’ said Shihemi.
Rwanda, who will be making their first appearance in the Africa Cup of Nations, are drawn in Group D, which consists of Cape Verde, Morocco and Tunisia.
The Rwandans will play their opener against Morocco in Tripoli on August 5, meet Cape Verde on August 6 and wrap up their preliminary round matches of the 12-team championship against Tunisia on August 7.
According to fixtures released by Fiba-Africa, Egypt are in Group B with champions Angola, Mozambique and Mali. Group A has Libya, Nigeria, Cote D’ Ivoire and South Africa while Cameroon, Senegal, Congo and Central African Republic will battle it out in Group C.