PRETORIA, South Africa — Burundi’s Dynamo BC have forfeited their Basketball Africa League game against FUS Rabat, set to be played on March 10, in the wake of the Burundian side’s refusal to display tournament sponsor Visit Rwanda’s logo.
Dynamo had blacked out the logo on their jerseys with tape for their opening game against Cape Town Tigers the night before. Dynamo went on to win the game, and in the aftermath Dynamo players declined to delve into detail about the protest, although guard Dhieu Deing confirmed to ESPN that it was related to the political conflict.
Tensions between Rwanda and Burundi escalated in January when Burundi closed the border between the landlocked central-eastern African countries, drawing anger from Rwanda. Weeks prior, Burundi President Évariste Ndayishimiye accused Paul Kagame’s government of backing the RED-Tabara rebel militia.
The BAL announced on Sunday morning, just hours before the game, that Dynamo and Rabat will not be facing off in the Kalahari Conference fixture.
The BAL statement read: “Dynamo Basketball Club (Burundi) has forfeited its game against FUS Rabat Basketball (Morocco) on Sunday, March 10 at the SunBet Arena for refusing to comply with the league’s rules governing jersey and uniform requirements, it was announced today by BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall.”
This means that fans traveling to Pretoria for the two fixtures, the first of which would have been played at 4pm, will have to wait till 7pm for the second game, between Petro de Luanda and Cape Town.
More to follow…
