Senegalese forward Makhtar Gueye was not impressed by Burundian government’s interference that led Dynamo basketball club to forfeit their Kalahari Conference game against Moroccan side FUS Rabat on Sunday, March 10, for refusing to comply with the tournament's jersey requirements. Dynamo, participating in the competition for the first time since its inception in 2021, covered BAL sponsor's Visit Rwanda logo on their uniforms with black tape during their opening game against host side Cape Town Tigers at SunBet Arena, Pretoria. The Burundians started the Conference games perfectly with an 86-73 victory but failure to ‘comply with the league’s rules governing jersey and uniform requirements’ saw them forfeit their second game against FUS Rabat, as announced by BAL president Amadou Gallo Fall on Sunday. ALSO READ: BAL 2024: Burundi's Dynamo forfeits FUS Rabat game The decision didn’t go down well with some Dynamo players including Gueye who described it as ‘probably one of the saddest days in my life so far.’ “The government of Burundi is not allowing us to wear Visit Rwanda (main sponsor) on our Jersey. BAL uniform regulations are strict if not kept. We forfeit any match without this logo represented. Politics and sports should not mix” Gueye posted on his Instagram page. It was not a decision that Gueye was expecting for a team that “spent seven weeks training like mad dogs to get ready for this season.” BAL came to Pretoria, South Africa, for the first time hosting the Kalahari Conference from March 9-17. BAL, organised by the NBA and FIBA, has had a partnership with the Rwanda development board since the tournament's inaugural 2021 season which was hosted in Kigali. The existing partnership indicates that all teams sport “Visit Rwanda” on their jerseys but Dynamo failed to do so, leading to forfeit against the FUS Rabat game. It remains unclear if the Burundian side will continue to participate at the Kalahari Conference should they resist wearing the sponsor's jersey.
