adminRicky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
AFTER playing host to a successful week long Afro-Basketball and All-Africa Games qualifiers tournament which ended in Bulawayo on Saturday, the Basketball Union of Zimbabwe has bemoaned lack of support from the corporate world.
Seven teams from five countries – Zimbabwe, Angola, Botswana, South Africa and Seychelles competed for tickets to the Afro-Basketball and All-Africa Games in the men and women’s categories.
Zimbabwe men’s team joined defending champions Angola for the Afro-Basketball Championships to be held in Tunisia later this year after being runners-up while South African women will represent the region at the finals set for Cameroon.
Angola and South Africa also won tickets to represent the region at the All-Africa Games to be held in Congo-Brazzaville in September.
In a post tournament interview, Buz secretary-general Joe Mujuru said lack of corporate backing remains a threat to sports development.
“One thing that we encountered is that the Bulawayo corporate community didn’t come to the party as we had anticipated. Sports tourism is the in-thing and for it to be successful it needs a total buy-in from all sectors of the economy. There is a need to educate corporate leaders on the need to support the sport industry because whenever these competitions are held, it’s the country or the city where the tournament is that benefits economically,” said Mujuru.
“The tournament was great and I must say the support that we got from schools, the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture as well as the Africa Union Sports Council Region 5 Under-20 Youth Games local organising committee was tremendous. There were also other institutions that helped a lot but I must say we’re miles behind in terms of full corporate support.”
He said lack of support from companies was not affecting basketball alone as other disciplines were faced with similar matters.
Mujuru challenged companies to take advantage of tournaments like the Afro-Basketball and All-Africa Games qualifiers and even locally organised competitions to market their products.
Meanwhile, Buz will begin their hunt for financial assistance to enable them to send their team to the Afro-Basketball Championships in Tunisia in September.
Zimbabwe men’s team will be participating for the first time at the continental competition and will want to make their presence felt by sending a strong team.
“We’ve players in America and Europe who we want to be part of the squad but due to financial challenges it might be difficult to have them for the finals later this year. We also need to look for funds for airfares, accommodation and training camp so that we adequately prepare for the finals. It’s our hope that the corporate world will see value in bankrolling basketball so that the sport reaches greater heights,” said Mujuru.
Online Reporter