By Douglas Mazune
THE refurbishment of the Lugogo Indoor Stadium is already coming with a cost for sports federations that will need to use the facility and they will soon realize it is out of reach.
The first to get the pinch was the local basketball governing body FUBA who were shocked with a sh5m invoice for using the arena for just three days.
FUBA that previously paid sh500,000 per day, were charged sh5m for hosting semifinal playoffs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“We were even lucky not to be billed sh6m because they have hinted at sh2m per day. We don’t have that kind of money,” a FUBA source lamented.
According to a FUBA executive who requested for anonymity because they are still in negotiations, FUBA president Ambrose Tashobya had to plead with National Council of Sports (NCS) officials for permission to hold games last weekend.
Basketball league sponsor MTN funded the refurbishment of Lugogo.
The New Vision has learnt that by 2:00pm yesterday Tashobya was still pleading with NCS to host last night’s games. Tashobya however declined to comment on the matter when contacted.
“The federation had to go through hoops and loops to get to play the opening game. We are not sure what the problem is. FUBA had to appeal to higher authorities to get the stadium last weekend,” another source fumed.
Basketball fans that thronged Lugogo to watch the game in the comfort of the ‘new Lugogo’ will have to brave chilly conditions at YMCA Wandegeya if NCS stick to its prohibitive charges.
The federation had planned to share revenue from gate collections with clubs to ease their financial constraints.
Basketball has one of the biggest crowds in local sport and the entry fee of sh5000 was expected to eventually improve the players welfare and officials that have over the years served on voluntary terms.
The Lugogo venue is open for hire for both sports and other social events.