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Who owns Lugogo stadium?
Basketball giants Power and Falcons clash at Lugogo before it was renovated four years ago. Basketball won’t return to the country’s only indoor stadium unless the current stand-off is solved. Photo by Eddie Chicco
What you need to know:
Basketball. Friday mess shows National Council of Sports no longer has control over the facility.
In total disregard of the explanation given to block their access to the Lugogo MTN Arena on Friday, the basketball league has been suspended indefinitely.
“We cannot let this go on forever. The period of begging is over and now, we need answers,” basketball body publicist Ali Balunywa said.
The move was part of resolutions passed during a meeting on Saturday at Lugogo chaired by Fuba president Ambrose Tashobya.
Fuba, having last used Lugogo in 2010, were left frustrated as MTN, who paid for the repair of the facility, blocked them from using it. MTN wrote to National Council of Sports (NCS), the public custodians, preventing them from holding basketball games there.
“The requisite basketball hoops have not been put in place,” part of the letter from Sheila B. Mugisha, the MTN facilities manager, read.
“The proposed backstops are too heavy and will damage the floor,” she added. This reasoning is not being bought as the new hoops are expected here in September.
“The current hoops weigh 900kg each while the ones being procured from Spain are about 1.4 tonnes each,” Balunywa divulged. “This is not about hoops.”
This could be a classic case of a war between telecoms as Airtel are now the league sponsors after MTN ended their eight-year marriage at the end of last season. “Under our 10-year deal with NCS, we have exclusive branding rights,” MTN’s Anthony Katamba, also NCS chairman, said.
“Even if the hoops arrive, basketball games can go on but our competition will not put up any banners. But for now, it is all about protecting the facility until the right hoops are fixed,” Katamba added.
Fuba had also offered to insure the floor at Shs120m and NCS cleared them to use the facility. “From the letter, you realize that NCS no longer own or run Lugogo so we need clarification,” Tashobya reasoned.
The other resolutions include writing a petition to the Speaker. There, Fuba want to deliver a petition and also seek permission from Police to demonstrate at the sports ministry.
But of more concern to the sporting fraternity is the contract NCS signed with MTN and the long term impact it might have on other disciplines.
While the stadium hosts several sports including volleyball, boxing, badminton, to mention but a few, there are worries some tournaments will be blocked from the facility in case they are sponsored by telecom companies besides MTN.
NCS secretary general Jasper Aligawesa said he would not divulge the details of the Lugogo contract until he makes consultations with his colleagues.
