Games postponed
Warriorsv Power
Women:
A1 v UCU
(Power and UCU lead series 2-0)
Thursday at YMCA
Div. II:
Heaters v Rhinos (6pm)
Div. III:
UCU JV v Stormers (4pm)
(Rhinos, UCU JV lead series 1-0)
The abrupt unavailability of the MTN Arena Lugogo this week has led to the delay of the best-of-seven Fuba League final series.
Last night’s Game Three in the women’s and men’s division One were called off following a communication from the National Council of Sports (NCS), the trustees of the venue. DMark Power and Kyambogo Warriors are the teams contesting the men’s title whereas UCU Lady Canons is locked in a duel with A1 Challenge for women’s crown.
In addition, Game Four scheduled for tomorrow will also not take place and the chances of the series remaining in the Shs1.7bn facility look very slim at this point.
“Fuba and NCS have a meeting this morning (yesterday) and we were informed that the venue is unavailable so there won’t be any games until that is sorted,” Fuba organising secretary Sande Manano told Daily Monitor.
Repeated efforts to reach Japser Aligawesa yielded no fruit as he never answered our calls. Recent media reports have been critical of the undulating playing surface even though the indoor stadium was closed for almost two years to undergo repairs funded by MTN.
With the exception of the roof and lavatories, there is hardly any noticeable improvement on the hoops, stands and the surface makes it impossible to dribble the ball.
It was reopened last month by President Yoweri Museveni. Now reports indicate that it will undergo repairs from next week following a meeting between the contractor (Kalin Construction Company), MTN and NCS on Tuesday evening.
“After the meeting, they agreed to suspend all activities in Lugogo until further notice,” Fuba press secretary Joe Burua said.
During the face-off, officials from Kalin refused to take the blame for bad surface citing that the venue had not yet been officially handed over to NCS. In doing so, the contractor is not responsible for any defects that arise since the company had not passed the venue as suitable.
Leading their respective series 2-0, Power and UCU are feeling the pinch from the postponement.
“Why not move games to YMCA? This is bad for us because Warriors might get the psychological advantage,” Power vice captain Isaac Afidra said after receiving the news.