Uganda was scheduled to face Mali on Monday before taking on Senegal the following day and ending the first phase in a clash with hosts Nigeria on Thursday.
The Uganda men’s senior basketball team, Silverbacks, will miss a second tournament this year due to a lack of government funding.
The team is supposed to be in Lagos, Nigeria, for the Pre-Olympic Qualifiers but will miss the action that starts Monday 14.
Uganda already skipped the FIBA Afro-CAN Qualifiers that were hosted in Dar es Salam, Tanzania, in June for the same reasons.
13:47 - 09.08.2023
BASKETBALL Uganda's participation in Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament hangs in the balance
An inside source has revealed to Pulse Sports that the federation is cash-strapped and unable to facilitate the team for the competition in West Africa.
The story of Silverbacks and lack of funding is familiar, and the team has, on several occasions, gone into international engagements before receiving funds from the National Council of Sports.
Uganda was scheduled to face Mali on Monday before taking on Senegal the following day and ending the first phase in a clash with hosts Nigeria on Thursday.
The last time the Silverbacks were in action, it took the intervention of FIBA to ensure the team travelled to Luanda, Angola, for the FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers.
Even then, the trip turned into a mess as a last-minute rush saw the team travel with just nine players and mixed-up jerseys.
The sports sector celebrated when 47b was allocated to sports, but that has yet to solve the funding gaps and several teams continue to miss out on international competitions.
12:07 - 05.06.2023
BASKETBALL Uganda Silverbacks set to miss FIBA Afro-CAN Qualifiers
This time round, FUBA chose to sit out the Afro-CAN and focus on the U-16 teams that also have upcoming engagements.
The Volleyball Lady Cranes were flagged off to the CAVB African Women’s Nations Championship with no government funding, and their male counterparts look set to miss out on their own competition slated for early September in Egypt.