Silverbacks fly high in Rwanda, but fall short amid financial struggles.
Uganda’s basketball team, the Silverbacks, was in Rwanda this month for the Afrobasketball tournament. The team was drawn in a ‘Group of Death’, containing heavyweights Nigeria and Cameroon, and had not won a single game at the tournament in its two previous appearances.
In a pleasant twist, the team surpasssed expectations and emerged from the group by beating Cameroon and Nigeria, after losing to South Sudan and Senegal.
They progressed to the quarters where they faced Cape Verde and fell short in their bid to reach the semi finals.
Creighton College freshman and rising star Arthur Kaluma had 18 of his team-leading 21 points after halftime to lead a spirited comeback, but it wasn’t enough as Cape Verde eliminated Uganda with a 79-71 victory.
This ended the tournament on a mixed note for Uganda, with feelings of pride mingling with disappointment at what could have been.
However, the team had financial challenges that may have hindered it, as it was at risk of being kicked out of the AfroBasket championships because it didn’t have sufficient funds to cover its expenses.
Nasser Sserunjogi, the head of Uganda’s basketball federation FUBA, told AFP the team needed to find about 360 million Ugandan shillings ($100,000) to meet their expenses in Kigali.
“We may fall on our promise to pay and get disqualified, a major embarrassment to the country,” he said, describing it as a “worrying situation.”
The Silverbacks were relying on credit from the sport’s international body FIBA to cover costs such as accommodation, meals and flight tickets and were initially given an August 29 deadline to pay up or be disqualified.
The team sent a distress letter about their plight to Uganda’s First Lady Janet Museveni and the country’s sports and education minister seeking financial help.
The basketball federation later announced that they had received Sh188million they needed to settle hotel bills.
The development followed conflicting reports in the morning that the
team had been stopped from leaving by their hotel, that denied it.
Earlier reports also indicated that the Rwanda basketball federation
Fewaba had decided to clear the bill on behalf of the Ugandans.
This begs the question, why does Uganda allow its sports teams to operate in such dire straits? Why can’t there be ready, adequate and timely support for our beloved athletes who work so hard to represent our country?
Despite the financial challenges the team faced, they did us proud. Uganda had never before reached the quarter-finals of the AfroBasket championships.
We also witnessed the continued rise of teenage sensation Arthur Kaluma, who had put up a man-of-the-match performance to inspire Uganda past a stubborn Morocco side 77-65 at the Salle El Bouazzaoui and ultimately qualify the Silverbacks to a historic third straight FIBA AfroBasket.
Kaluma made 8-of-16 field goal attempts to score his 21 points, adding three rebounds in 33 minutes in the quarter final loss to Cape Verde, and finished the tournament averaging 13.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game.