The continued closure of Lugogo Indoor Stadium over a dilapidated playing surface is costing basketball dearly. After heavily affecting the MTN-Fuba League play-offs over the past month, Uganda lost the hosting rights for next year’s Fiba Zone V Nations Championship.
Indoor venue
The event was due to be held at Lugogo in February but will now be hosted by Kigali, Rwanda thanks to Uganda’s failure to provide an indoor venue. “Lugogo is affecting so many of our plans and now Fiba wants only closed venues to host events unlike in the past yet there is no idea of when Lugogo will be re-opened,” said Bob Buga, the Fuba vice-president.
Uganda’s only multi-purpose indoor facility was shut down earlier this month as the surface deteriorated rapidly even if it had been closed by National Council of Sports for almost two years to undergo renovation for the first time since construction.