Written by Felix Eupal
By now, every basketball fan in Uganda is used to the notion of having the national league not starting on time.
This year has not been any different. The basketball league was set to start in March, but that did not come to pass. The April 29 tipoff was moved to May 6. Will there be another twist?
Previously, the new conditions set by management at YMCA, where most of the regular season games are held, had thwarted the league tipoff. But now Fuba official, William Musaazi, is confident that there will be no more twists. The stand-off between Fuba and YMCA management revolves around the hiking of the ground rent for the YMCA basketball court.
The charge soared from Shs 4m to Shs 7m, much to the surprise of Fuba. But the hike was not only the spiky issue. The day and duration of the matches (both pre and post) have also been equally spiky. YMCA management wanted Fuba to remove all midweek matches from their venue on grounds that they disrupt lectures.
The institution’s top management also wanted Fuba to start matches at 6pm and end at 10pm, and not ending at 12am as has been the case. Fuba have no bargaining chip and look all the more certain to concede to most of YMCA’s demands. Fuba’s only other option would have been to use the MTN-NCS Arena in Lugogo.
But that’s not possible since the arena’s multipurpose synthetic rubber floor is yet to be fully repaired. Compounding this is the fact the National Council of Sports (NCS) and telecommunication company MTN have failed to come to terms about who should have full control of the arena.
Whoever comes out on top between MTN and NCS is a story for another time. For the moment, Fuba have one option, YMCA. One can only hope Fuba’s negotiation skills salvage them from further humiliation of being looked at as a briefcase entity.
That said, the postponement of the league has come as a blessing in disguise for the teams. By press time, almost half of the teams had not confirmed their participation, let alone handed in their lists of players.
Even the teams that will kick off the season, Dmark Power v Miracle and UCU Lady Canons v A1 Challenge, welcomed the news with open arms. Miracle is still fighting over the ownership of Richard Omondi with Falcons his former club.
Omondi signed a one-year deal with Miracle earlier this year, but Falcons claim he is still their player because his contract with the record champions wasn’t terminated.
Elsewhere, Power is still struggling to get back in shape by fitting new signing Jimmy Enabu into their set-up. On the women’s side, A1 Challenge need all the time they can get after losing Ali Mavita and Hatima Kasimu who defined their offence. Josephine Namayega has also switched to KCC Leopards, leaving A1 every inch depleted.