FIBA Africa Zone V board has awarded the hosting rights for this year’s Club Championship for Men and Women to Uganda. The annual regional basketball competition, staged by member countries on a rotational basis, will be staged in Kampala in October; however, the official dates will be announced at a later date. Zone V comprises 11 countries. Uganda hosts the event after Tanzania that staged last year’s edition while Rwanda organized the 2015 edition. The regional club competition attracts the champion teams from Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, S.Sudan, Burundi and Egypt. For the second time in a row, Rwanda will be represented by league champions Patriots and IPRC-South, the reigning playoffs champions, who will be making their debut appearance. Patriots made their debut last year in Dar-es-Salaam and reached the semi-finals. Rwanda’s second representative Espoir were knocked out in the quarterfinals. In the women category, Rwanda will be represented by APR and Ubumwe. Last year, only Ubumwe competed in the women category and finished third on their debut. Uganda’s City Oilers and Kenya’s Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) are the defending champions in the men and women categories respectively. Meanwhile, Kenya will host the 2017 U-16 Afrobasket preliminaries for boys and girls in May and June respectively as well as U-18 and Senior Afrobasket men and women 3x3. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
