According to reports by Brian Kawalya, the Namuwongo Blazers issued a complaint to FUBA about the potential violation of the foreign player law by the City Oilers. This was after the 78-73 loss in game 5 of the NBL Finals on Sunday 16th August.

The big question is, did the Oilers actually violate the law? If so, who is to blame? Also, what could be the sanctions? In this article, we shall delve into the matter.

The protest

According to Brian Kawalya, the Namuwongo Blazers’ protest is about the eligibility of some of the City Oilers players. These include; Malual Dier, Germaine Roebuck, Patrick Rembert, Isaac Athuai Akoal, Joel Lukoji Banza and Landry Ndikumana. The Blazers believe that the Oilers violated the law, section 2.01 (h).

What does the law state?

Article 2.01 (h) states that; During registration in the e-registration portal, a club/team will register a maximum of only four (4) foreign players. On a game day, a club/team will be permitted to register and utilize a maximum of four (4) foreign players on game day for NBL and only three (3) foreign players for the lower leagues. In case of doubt on the nationality of a player will be asked to present a passport.

What this means is that the Blazers believe that the Oilers have more than 4 foreign players. This could be a case of proving whether the said players are Nationals or foreigners.

Was the protest lodged in time?

According to the 2026 FUBA Regulations Section 3.01 (j); A club may submit a protest concerning the eligibility of players. Such protest must be received by Technical Council within 24 hours following the contested occurrence. The club/team may also play under protest by the captain signing on the game score sheet and the details of the protest recorded.

So, basing off the Blazers submitted the protest within the time for this game. However, these players had played before in the finals and even in the regular season. So, is reporting them now the right thing to do?

The genesis

During the 2025 season, the foreign player rule permitted teams to have a maximum of 4 foreign players on a roster but only 3 were eligible to play in a game. In 2026, the rule changed and a maximum of 4 foreign players were allowed on a roster and all 4 were eligible to play in a game.

At the start of the season, the City Oilers had Malual Dier, Isaac Akoal, Joel Lukoji and Landry Ndikumana on their roster. All the four played in the regular season. However, in the playoffs, Patrick Rembert and Germaine Roebuck joined. That is when eyebrows were raised. Did the Oilers have more than 4 foreign players?

What are the Nationalities of the players?

If you check on the Fuba portal, both Roebuck and Malual are listed as Ugandan. The question is, are they actually Ugandan? According to the 2026 FUBA Handbook, a foreign Player is defined as a player who has a different legal nationality from that of the Republic of Uganda. It is said that Roebuck has a Ugandan passport. Does that then make him not a foreigner? What if he has duo citizenship? Is he still a termed as a foreigner?

The case of Malual is a bit complex. In the previous seasons, when was he listed as a Ugandan? That is a very important question because it helps in determining when he became Ugandan. If he got his Ugandan documents in 2025 or 2026, is he then not a foreigner? Plus, which document does he have; a National ID or Passport?

Article 3.01 (i) states that; A club/team is responsible for the eligibility of its players at all times and will bear the consequences of any contravention of the rules and regulations governing eligibility, National Status, International Transfer, etc.

So it is/was City Oilers task to prove whether Malual is national or a foreigner. This now begs the question, if he played, how was he cleared? Either the competition council had sufficient evidence to prove that he was Ugandan and they cleared him or they never did their work properly.

Remember, if he had been registered as a Ugandan from seasons before, it would not make sense to query his Nationality at this point because he has been playing in the league for a number of years. However, if his nationality changed, then there would have to have been sufficient evidence to prove that he is no longer a foreigner.

Is there someone to blame?

If it is found that either Roebuck or Malual is a foreigner, who is to blame? Would it be the City Oilers or Competition Council? The Competition council is responsible for clearing players and it is there job to verify the information availed to them. If a team submits information and a player is cleared, it makes no sense to then sanction the team later in the season. However, if the team submits wrong/falsified documents, they are misleading the council and that could be termed as fraud.

According to section 7.02 (a), Fraud is referred to as;

1. Impersonation, presenting forged documents such as license cards, ID cards and any documents etc. to FUBA  
2. Providing false information to the federation, which is later determined to be inaccurate.

If a team or player violated that law, the following sanctions would be given;

1. A person found guilty of Section 7.02 (a) (i) will be suspended for the reminder of the season from all competitions organized by FUBA. In the case of a club, it shall be demoted to the lower division.
2. A person found guilty of Section 7.02 (a) (ii) will be fined $500 or its equivalent in Uganda Shillings.

At this point, we can’t prove what information was submitted to the council but if what the Namuwongo Blazers are alleging is true, then either the competition council or City oilers did something wrong. In case the Oilers submitted wrong information, then there can be severe consequences according to the law.

Could there be a potential sanction?

According to the rules, the following sanctions could happen if the law Article 2.01 (h) is violated.

1. A player who contravenes any part of the player eligibility rule will be fined US$100 or its equivalent in Uganda shillings and a 4 games suspension.
2.  A club/team that fields a player who has contravened any part of Section 3.01 will be fined US$150 or its equivalent in Uganda shillings and the games where the player was fielded will be forfeited.

Roebuck has played only a few games in the playoffs whereas Malual has played very many games since the start of the regular season. Does that then mean that games could be forfeited?

Going towards that direction is very dangerous because it will cause an upheaval. Every team that faced Malual in the regular season may call for their games to be revisited. The same case could happen for the teams in the playoffs. The Rezlife Saints and the KCCA Panthers may also pile pressure on the competition council.

Final take

For many, this is an attempt by the Blazers to cause some commotion. At the moment, they find themselves trailing 3-2 in the finals series and all they are doing is clutching at straws. There is no need for all this drama and these issues would have been raised earlier in the season. If not, they would have been raised before the start of the finals. However, we can’t be 5 games in and you are now protesting about player eligibility. If they were up 3-2, would we see the same energy?

We wait for more information from the federation.  In the meantime, game 6 will be on Wednesday 19th at the Lugogo Indoor Arena.