For long, FUBA, more so the EXCOM, has not been appreciated for the work that they do more when it comes to the National Teams.

For almost every tournament where Uganda is supposed to participate, they have made it possible for the players to travel and compete/participate.

When things go wrong and the teams don’t perform well, we are quick to throw stones at the Administration, the coaches and the players.

However, if you think about it, does any of those people involved not wish well for Uganda?

Well, sometimes mistakes are made and as the saying goes, to err is human, these administrators, coaches and players sometimes make very costly mistakes that affect the performance and results.

However, I don’t think any of them has ever wanted to just make Ugandan basketball look bad.

You must be wondering, what is this article about.

The truth is, FUBA is in some trouble, and all I can say is, they need your prayers.

In the second half of the year alone, there are numerous National Team activities.

The Women’s Afrobasket in Abidjan, the Afrobasket in Angola, the 16 Afrobasket in Rwanda, the U23 3X3 World Cup in China, Silverbacks Window 1 of the World Cup Qualifiers and U23 3×3 Tour.

Where will the money come from?

This is the question that, If you’re not part of administration will not concern you, but those in leadership know that things are hot.

The Gazelles will, on top of going for the tournament, have a residential camp in Cairo and that costs a lot.

The players who play abroad are also flown in and that costs more money.

The Silverbacks will have the same, a camp in South Africa and those abroad flown in.

If you calculate the money for just flying the players from abroad, it is too much.

If you add that for flying in the U16 players, the sum even becomes more wild.

For those that didn’t know, FUBA pays participation fees for the tournaments they play in and additionally, they pay extra fees for players and officials.

For example, in Abidjan, they will pay $400 for registration, $10 per approved player, totals to $120, $40 per bench official, totals to about $160 or more.

Additionally, they will pay $90 per person per day for accommodation and food.

If we do just 11 days, and 21 players and officials, that totals to around $20,000.

You must be saying how come there are 9 officials, well if you add a doctor, team manager, 3 coaches, physio, 2 media people and Head of Delegation the number becomes 21 total.

Actually, the number is more because there are 3 media people, a video analyst and a fitness coach were also added.

That brings the total delegation to 25, 13 players and 12 officials.

One thing for sure is that the contingent will not arrive on the day of the event, and those extra days have not been accounted for.

Travel is more expensive than accommodation and food combined and if you add it to those 2, the figures start to look more scary.

Players also receive a small allowance but if you sum it up, it is quite substantial.

So you will find that for the Women’s Afrobasket alone, FUBA will need about $70,000, which is about Ush 250,000,000.

To make matters worse, the Men’s Afrobasket comes a few days after the women’s.

That means, by the time the ladies are playing, the boys shall also be in camp.

There will not be any time for FUBA to buy in order to look for money.

The Men’s fees for accommodation, license and registration are similar to the Ladies but their travel could cost more.

For those 2 events alone, FUBA will need between 500,000,000 to 700,000,000 and where shall it come from?

When the U16 Boys and Girls went to Tanzania, the Federation spent more than 60 million.

The 3×3 U23 team that went to Benin had 15 people.

If you estimate a return ticket to be at around $800, then that would make the total about $12000 about UGX 40+ million.

If you add other expenses, the total expenditures surpasses 50 million.

When the U16 boys go to Rwanda, more money will have to be spent.

The world cup qualifiers for thr Silverbacks will probably also take more than 150 million.

The U23 3×3 Women will play in Indonesia, France and Hungary before going to China for the World Cup.

There will also be a 3×3 Africa Cup in December for both Men and Women in Madagascar.

All that will be money spent and the question is where will it come from?

The good thing is, FUBA has a betpawa as the senior National Team sponsor and they will come in and help on some expenses.

For the other engagements, FUBA has to look for money and I believe we should give them more credit for making things happen always more so when it comes to National Team engagements.

As i conclude i urge you all to

PRAY FOR FUBA!

so that they can get all the finances they need to make sure that the National teams participate in all these events.