Gloom and doom for the RBA League
Jogoo's Mussa Mwakarobo looks for a throw as Oilers' Samuel Lusajo during their past RBA League in Dar es Salaam. PHOTO|FILE
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Their plea comes after Azam TV who were sponsoring the RBA League decided to withdraw its support for the Dar es Salaam league.
Dar es Saalam. The basketball fraternity has called on the Regional Basketball Association (RBA) to come up with a raft of resolutions, which will help salvage the RBA League.
Their plea comes after Azam TV who were sponsoring the RBA League decided to withdraw its support for the Dar es Salaam league.
All RBA League matches were beamed live by Azam TV, thus helping to promote the sport.
Oilers guard Lusajo Samuel told The Citizen yesterday that the withdrawal of Azam TV sponsorship has dealt a massive blow to Dar es Salaam basketball.
Samuel, who is also the national team skipper, called on individuals and companies to come to the rescue of the “beautiful game.”
“The cancellation of sponsorship has sent ripples of shock to all clubs featuring in the RBA League. I am not a prophet of doom, but I can clearly see the fall of basketball in Dar es Salaam,” said Samuel.
“The arrival of Azam TV brought renewed excitement for the sport across the country, but their decision to end sponsorship means that we are going back to where we were. This will certainly change for the worse, but it is down to basketball authorities to act.”
Lusajo urged the current RBA leadership to come up with workable strategies that will ensure the league maintains its status.
“This should open RBA leaders’ eyes. We need to have many sponsors for the league and avoid putting all eggs in one basket, ” he said.
Basketball in the region was at its peak over a decade ago when Kilimanjaro Premier Lager shelled out cash to sponsor the RBA League.
Chui official Shendu Hamis Mwangalia also expressed concern over the cancelation of the Azam TV sponsorship, calling on the leaders to come up with foolproof strategies of promoting basketball in the region.
“We don’t know what prompted Azam TV to stop sponsoring the RBA League. They silently parted ways with the RBA and we now see how bad it has affected us,” he said.
“Who knows whether the league is in progress or not? The league has lost its excitement following the Azam TV withdrawal. All I see is doom and gloom.”
Mwangalia advised the RBA leaders to learn from Simon Msoffe, the late Mbamba Uswege and Mbaga Mwamboma whose tenure helped transform basketball significantly.
