Junior Teams in Egypt For FIBA Africa Afrobasket Championship

Uganda’s under-16 National Basketball teams (boys and girls) are in Cairo, Egypt ready for the start of the FIBA Africa Afrobasket Championship.

The Championship which will attract basketball playing nations on the continent will run August 6-15th.

The two Ugandan teams were flagged off yesterday at Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) in Lugogo by Federation of Basketball Association, FUBA President Nasser Sserunjoji. The Championship will also serve as a qualifier for the FIBA U-17 World Championship 2022. The winner and the runners-up will book their tickets for World Championship.

According to Sserunjoji, the boys’ team has been undergoing training at Makerere University in nonresidential training, while the girls have been under residential camp at the Africa Bible University in Lubowa. He says both teams are confident they will rise Uganda’s flag high in the competition.

The Federation however struggled to raise money for the two sides and the trip mostly funded by private companies. The government only provided Shs7.4m for COVID-19 tests. Sserunjoji says the Federation wanted to provide an opportunity for the youngsters to compete on a continental level  

Last month FUBA had to take a loan of over 3000 million shillings to fund the Senior Men National team, Silverbacks in the AfroBasket qualifiers.