One can truly feel sorry for the basketball players of Burundi, not mentioning the officials of the sport’s governing body in the country, FEBABU. The dreams of the players, who were participating in the Basketball African League championship in South Africa, have been dashed, because politicians back in Gitega browbeat them into not displaying the “Visit Rwanda” logo on their jerseys during their games. To be more specific, Bujumbura’s Dynamo BBC, which was taking part in the Kalahari Conference – currently being hosted in Pretoria – had already played their first game against Cape Town Tigers, but were in breach of the rules when they failed to display the Visit Rwanda logo, one of the tournament’s main sponsors, fully on the front of their jerseys. The Bujumbura outfit had covered the logo with black tape, in gross violation of BAL’s rules, apparently because not doing so would have landed them into trouble with their government. ALSO READ: BAL 2024: Gueye slams Burundi’s interference amid Dynamo forfeit The poor players had to resort to that vandalism because their country’s rulers thought that with an act like that they were “punishing Rwanda”. Instead, all the Burundians did was cut off their nose to spite their face. Who is the loser, other than Burundi, and its youth? The biggest victims of their government’s act of political petulance of course were the players and coaches of Dynamos BBC, who in fact had won their game against Cape Town Tigers, only to be informed by BAL they would take no further part in the championship if they persisted in defying the rules. Inevitably Dynamos, most obviously against their wishes, chose to forfeit their next game against Morocco’s FUS Rabat. All their work, their preparations – in addition to their dreams – down the drain, just like that. Dynamos BBC left South Africa, ironically aboard a Rwandair jet to Kigali, for their connecting flight to Bujumbura. The team that had been made “to protest” Visit Rwanda ended up being the first to visit Rwanda. Facts sometimes can be stranger than fiction. One can imagine the levels of dismay the players and team officials experienced. Some reports say a few FEBABU officials have resigned. Other reports suggest FIBA, the international basketball federation, is preparing to ban Burundi from any international tournaments for up to three or five years, and slap a hefty fine on them. All this probably is of very little concern for Burundi’s rulers. They display a staggering short-sightedness. The men of Gitega seem unaware that politics – especially the petty, negative ideology variety that informs such a decision as violating tournament rules – make for a very poor mix. Used in such ways, sport can be a powerful vehicle for social change. What the Burundian authorities are doing isn’t remotely for any right, let alone just, cause. They only are enlisting their sportsmen into service to their personal churlishness. Also, they are – yet again – borrowing a leaf from their patron, Felix Tshisekedi, in the DRC. Avid soccer fans will remember that during the first edition of the African Football League in October last year, DR Congo side TP Mazembe refused to display the Visit Rwanda logo on their shirts. It was a political decision very much in alignment with the Kinshasa government’s hostility against Rwanda, but which blatantly violated the letter, and spirit of sport. There were no reported penalties against Mazembe – probably because 2023 was the inaugural year of what CAF (the continental football governing body) hopes to turn into the showpiece championship of African club football. The organizers maybe were blindsided by the Congolese outfit’s act, and hadn’t thought what action to take in an eventuality like that. One can be certain however that Mazembe, or any other outfit that wants to behave like it did, won’t be allowed to flout the rules indefinitely. By now, we are used to the pettiness, and the small-mindedness that the activities of Tshisekedi and his Burundian counterpart Evariste Ndayishimiye display. Choosing to sabotage initiatives that, yes though they indeed grow Rwandan tourism, also benefit other Africans all over the continent (think of the money BAL brings in that gets shared by all the teams; think of the exposure the players enjoy and what that does for their future; think of the new employment opportunities that BAL as a new league has created), only because you hate Rwanda? That is just madness. I can’t think of any other way to state it
