Speaking on behalf of the many whose voices can’t be heard, we are tired 🤦‍♂️. We are tired of this never ending confusion.

Since before the start of the playoffs, the number of statements that have been issued by clubs is alarming.

I bet the number of statements is more than those in the past 3 seasons combined.

This is getting out of hand.

Anyway, let us address the issue at hand.

Today, Thursday 23rd October, the Namuwongo Blazers issued a statement seeking clarification on the NBL Finals fixture.

In their statement, they say they are committed to honoring the October 26th start date yet the Finals are supposed to start on Friday 24th.

This means that they may not show up for the Friday Game.

What Happens if they don’t show up?

If things remain as is and the City Oilers, together with the officials show up for the game and Namuwongo Blazers do not, they will lose the game by forfeit.

According to the FIBA rules article 20.1;

“A team shall lose the game by forfeit if the team is not present or unable to field 5 players ready to play 15 minutes after the game is scheduled to start.”

The penalty is that the game shall be awarded to the opponents and the score shall be 20 to 0.

Section 20.2.2 states, “For a 2-games, (home and away) total points (aggregate score) and for playoffs (Best of 3), the team that forfeit in the first, second or third game shall lose the series or playoffs by forfeit. This does not apply for playoffs (Best of 5 and Best of 7).”

This means that if the game is awarded as a victory to the City Oilers, it will be 1-0 and no further consequences.

However, if this happens, there is a possibility that the Namuwongo Blazers could refuse to play the entire finals series. (We saw them withdraw from the playoffs in the 2023 season.)

That is confusion that Ugandan Basketball doesn’t need at this point in time.

What happened?

You must be wondering, how did we get to this point?

Well, fixtures in the playoffs have been changing a lot (as expected) and this is what has caused the confusion.

According to the Namuwongo Blazers, when they recieved information about the dates of the Road to BAL, they wrote to FUBA requesting that the start of the NBL Finals be pushed till atleast 31st October.

A few days later, they received positive confirmation from the General Secretary that the start had been rescheduled to 26th October.

On 17th October, while the Namuwongo Blazers were in Tanzania, a new fixture was released, showing that game one would be Friday 24th.

One important thing to note is that their is a possibility that Namuwongo Blazers had planned out different activities including travel (from Tanzania), while knowing that the finals start on Sunday.

The ‘abrput’ change to Friday 24th could potentially disrupt their plans and it is one of the issues they address in the statement.

Another key thing to note is the fact that, at the end of every Fixture that is issued, there is a key statement (reservation) at the end.

It states, “The Competition Council reserves the right to postpone and reschedule a game(s) or venue(s).”

If the Competition Council saw it fit to reschedule the games, then teams are supposed to comply.

However, it is also rare that you see games rescheduled to earlier than later and that is what happened in this case.

The confusion is not just there. Yesterday, on Wednesday 22nd, 2 games (UMU Flames vs Diamonds in the Sun and Miracle Eagles vs Ihoops) were supposed to be played at YMCA.

About 2 hours to the game, information comes out that the games have been postponement.

For a team like UMU Flames who have to travel from Mpigi get their plans affected and who knows, perhaps they were on their way already.

In the 2024 season, Seeta High had already arrived at Abja Park for game one of their quarter-finals only to be told that the games had been postponed.

Truth is, we are tired of this confusion.

One thing to note is, with the Division One games for Wednesday and Friday postponed, everything has changed.

You find that a team had made their preparations but now, things have to change and they have no say.

Honestly, there is a big communication problem and the justification or lack of to what goes into the changes made.

This issue of the Namuwongo Blazers and FUBA is just funny.

How it shall be resolved remains to be seen but looks like the Namuwongo Blazers will not turn up (to play).

Nonetheless, the JT Lady Jaguars and the JKL Lady Dolphins are expected to take center stage at 7:00 pm on Frifay in the Lugogo Arena.