Basketball in Africa

by Sande Bashaija
Wandegeya

Today
KCC Lions v UCU Canons 6pm

Kampala City Council (KCC) Lions are pondering skipping today’s MTN-Fuba League rescheduled match against Uganda Christian University (UCU) Mukono.

They are instead planning to take their relegation battle to courts of law, accusing the sport’s governing body, Fuba, of violating the rules of the game. KCC earned four points by forfeiture last Tuesday after UCU Canons reported late for the game and were already assured of surviving the drop for the second season running. But UCU Canons filed a successful petition arguing that a member of the Fuba technical committee had informed them of a different tip off time.

“We wrote to them and informed them that we can’t replay the game,” KCC Lions official Dennis Karugaba told Daily Monitor yesterday.
“As far as I know there is no rule that allows a game that has been played to be replayed.”

Whereas Fuba admitted that they blundered by informing UCU that the game was to start at 8pm instead of 6pm, they feel that a replay suits the spirit of fair play. “The game is very important to both teams so we think a replay would do them lots of justice,” Fuba assistant general secretary Joseph Manano said.

If Canons win or earn a walkover today, they will be assured of playing in the topflight. But KCC Lions, who also survived getting relegated by a whisker last season, seem to be having a strong ground to argue their case.

“A match can only be terminated by the referee. The referee awarded us the points and we have the score sheet in our files,” Karugaba argued. Fuba held a meeting with KCC Lions officials last night to try and sort out the matter before it gets out of hand.