Playing in the FUBA Division One and Two must be one of the most frustrating things for the Managers, Coaches and even players because of how ‘unseriously’ it is run by the Federation contrary to the National Basketball League (NBL).

On Saturday 23rd November, the playoffs were scheduled to start with Women’s games happening at Abja Parks and Division Two games at Nakasero.

At 10:34 am, when games were supposed to have already started, the managers received an email stating that the games for the weekend had been postponed due to unavailability of officials.

The teams that were supposed to be in action at that time were Nkumba Lady Marines from Entebbe and Seeta High from Mukono.

First and foremost, the transport expenses incurred and the time wasted is big.

Secondly, Nkumba is set to start exams so the girls had been balancing between preparing for exams and preparing for playoffs which is quite challenging.

Seeta High is also currently in exams and finding ample time to prepare for exams and the games is very difficult.

After making so much sacrifices for the team and the games are postponed, that must be very annoying.

On Wednesday 20th, a source revealed that the referees had intended not to officiate games due to arrears that they have.

It was said that referees demand money from as far back as the 2023 season and that is a very big surprise.

During one of the talking hoops X spaces, the FUBA General Secretary Hudson Ssegamwenge revealed that the teams in the lower leagues pay so much registration fee (4+ million) because the expenses for the whole season to run the league are computed and the averages is calculated for each team to play.

On 24th April 2024, FUBA sent a letter to all teams postponing the games that had been scheduled for the weekend, 27th and 28th, citing the refusal of teams to pay the league fees.

They gave teams until 2nd May to have cleared, and the league was on a standstill for a while.

After a while, a new fixture was made which excluded all the teams that had not yet paid.

However, after a while, all the teams were allowed to play.

After that, the league went on quite smoothly until the end of the first round.

The finals games of round one were played on 28 July and the first game of round two was played on 7th September more than 40 days later.

Why did they take so long to resume the league? One of the biggest factors was finances.

The big question

Have all teams cleared? If yes, where did the money go because it was supposed to run the league?

If not, why did FUBA let them play in the first place?

If teams were few (only those that paid) the games would have been fewer which in turn lowers the expenses.

If referees say that they demand from last season, where did the money that was supposed to run last season go?

Did some teams not pay, and did some pay partially?

If that happened, did those teams play this season without clearing the balance from the previous season?

The other thing is, so many people have been asking questions about the gate collections.

However small it could be, has there been an accountability for it?

That small could help clear some of the expenses that FUBA incurs but it is unknown how much is collected and how it is spent.

The thing is, there are a lot of questions and fewer answers, and it all goes back to FUBA, which has run the league poorly.

From poor time management, to poor communication and very many other things which surprisingly are not seen in the NBL.

With this postponement of games, there is a lot of dilemma coming up mostly for University teams.

The current fixture indicated that the playoffs were supposed to end on 17th  December.

On 15th December, the East Africa University games in Kenya are supposed to be starting.

Division One has multiple University teams, Nkumba Marines, Nkumba Lady Marines, Makerere University, and Victoria University, and some players in other teams play for their different Universities like MUBS, Bugema, Kampala University, and others.

This means that teams and players may have to choose to either play in the league or travel for University games which could have been avoided if the games had not been continuously postponed.

The big questions,

Did FUBA know that referees were not going to officiate games or they thought it was a bluff?

Secondly, will FUBA ever take the lower league seriously?