Reports reaching Basketballghana.com indicate the Ugandan Men’s Basketball Team-Silver Backs- is disappointed over FIBA Africa’s cancellation of its 2021 AfroBasket qualification games.
Five Uganda players tested positive for COVID ahead of the East African nation’s qualifiers Group E against Morocco, Egypt and Cape Verde in Monastir, Tunisia.
Due to this, FIBA authorities postponed Uganda’s games to a yet to be determined date but members of Uganda’s contingent have expressed disappointment over the decision citing the team’s readiness to see out the games even with a shorthanded roster.
In an interview with Uganda news outlet Daily Monitor, Silver Backs Team Manager Albert Ahabwe, stated, “What is also true is the fact that the team was ready to play regardless of what number we had left, we had enough to meet the rule and what it says of what you able to play with…so the guys were ready but the officials who run the tournament said we had to step out of the tournament.”
Uganda needs a win in three games to qualify to the 2021 AfroBasket; Egypt beat Cape Verde and Morocco to book its place. The controversy is likely to cost Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations (FUBA) $191,693.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
