Hoops federation explains league delay

THE national basketball league will start at the end of this month, Rwanda Basketball Federations vice president Freddy Makuza has confirmed.

Wednesday, August 01, 2012
The recent Zone V qualifiers had huge crowds, a sign that the bastketball league is still a big attraction. The New Times/R. Spector.

THE national basketball league will start at the end of this month, Rwanda Basketball Federations vice president Freddy Makuza has confirmed.Initially, the league was scheduled to start in the first week of May, and while explaining the delay, Makuza said the postponement was a result of what he referred to as "the rigorous evaluation of existing laws and changing outdated rules.”"There has always been problems in the running of the league because the existing laws were not elaborate and it created confusion. So we have been working hard to set new and clear rules to avoid ambiguity. "The process is near completion and we think the league will start end of this month,” Makuza told this paper on Tuesday.The new basketball federation administration led by Desire Mugwiza is on an intensive campaign to revamp the sport in the country, which had been accused of using foreigners on the senior national team. The recent Zone five U-18 championships was free of charge in entrance as way of enticing back fans.APR won the league last year but Makuza is encouraging clubs to source for corporate sponsorship if the league is to return to its glory days when basketball as one of the most followed sport in the country."We are trying our best to get sponsorship for the league but we also want clubs to look for their own sponsors,” noted the former APR center forward.