With just 10 days to the tip off of the 2021 Afro-Basketball Tournament in Kigali, Rwanda, Federation of Uganda Basketball Association (FUBA) is seeking for Shs800 million to support the Uganda Silverbacks at the tournament.
The funds will help to clear arrears from Morocco trip where the Silverbacks qualified for the AfroBasket finals and the balance used to facilitate the Kigali trip.
The Silverbacks were supposed to leave Uganda for Kigali today for a few days of training but due to the financial constraints, the team is still stuck. It should also be noted that the national team failed to make it to Egypt for build-up games as FUBA revealed that government is yet to disburse any money to facilitate their preparations.
Afro-Basketball Tournament is the biggest basketball tournament in Africa. Silvebacks’ first Afrobasket game is on August 25 against Senegal. Sadly the team has not trained at all since qualifying for the tournament last month.
According to sources, gov’t promises to disburse Shs300 million by tomorrow,. And through his official twitter account, First Son Muhoozi Kainerugaba has disclosed that he has already engaged First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports Janet Museveni to help the team get the required funds.
The Silverbacks are in Group D alongside former African champions Senegal, Cameroon and debutants South Sudan. The team is expected to field 10-locally based players and two from abroad.