EXCLUSIVE: The gripping controversy surrounding Dynamo's Sunday forfeiture! AfricaBasket unveils exclusive insights into their jersey protest saga in the Basketball Africa League!
Last Updated on
March 12, 2024
Ayo Biyibi
Staff Writer
On morning of Sunday, 10th March 2024, the Basketball Africa League released a statement stating that its Burundi-based club, Dynamo had forfeited it's game against FUS Rabat, of Morocco. The forfeiture was due to Dynamo refusing to comply with the league’s rules governing jersey and uniform requirements.
Despite much speculation surrounding the reasons for the forfeiture, fans in Burundi, South Africa, and beyond were hopeful that Dynamo would rejoin the competition and participate in Game Day 3 following negotiations with the league and Burundi's Basketball Federation.
Unfortunately, Dynamo's hopes of returning to the Basketball Africa League were dashed this morning when the league office announced that the team had again refused to comply with the BAL's rules and requirements governing jerseys and uniforms. As a result of incurring two forfeits, including Sunday's and today's, the club triggered an automatic withdrawal from the competition per league rules:
"Dynamo Basketball Club (Burundi) has further refused to comply with the Basketball Africa League's rules and requirements governing jerseys and uniforms, thereby forfeiting today's game against Petro de Luanda (Angola) and its participation in the 2024 BAL season. FIBA rules, two forfeitures in the same tournament trigger the club's automatic withdrawal."
Amid swirling rumours in the basketball industry regarding Dynamo's reluctance to comply with the league's regulations regarding rules and requirements governing jerseys and uniforms [See Image Above], AfricaBasket has obtained EXCLUSIVE INSIDER information on the negotiation process. This revelation comes from an anonymous source at the Kalahari Conference games in South Africa.
As per our insider, on the eve of Dynamo's opening day game against the Cape Town Tigers, the club officials from Burundi received directives from their government to conceal the logo of BAL partner and jersey sponsor Visit Rwanda. Surprisingly, Dynamo's management opted not to disclose this development to the Basketball Africa League office, leaving the league unaware of their decision and underlying rationale.
This move underscored the current and souring political tensions between Rwanda and Burundi following renewed accusations by Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, alleging that Rwanda provides financial support and training to rebel groups, specifically the RED-Tabara group.
In the eyes of Burundian authorities, RED-Tabara stands branded as a terrorist faction, with accusations levelled against its members for their alleged involvement in the unsuccessful coup d'état of 2015. Originating in 2011, the group has faced scrutiny for its purported role in a string of assaults within Burundi since the events of 2015.
As Dynamo took to the court at the SunBet Arena on Saturday, March 9th, both FIBA and BAL executives observed a jersey sponsorship logo being concealed [See Image Above]. While frustrated by the club's actions, a decision was reached to proceed with the game as scheduled, considering it was the season opener being broadcast worldwide. However, officials pledged to address the matter after the game concluded:
"Because a lot of tickets had been sold and the game was due to be broadcasted live around the world, the league didn't stop it as they would have lost money and respect. So they allowed the game to go ahead but they said they would address the matter afterwards." - According to our source.
After Dynamo secured a 74-62 victory, the league office responded by issuing a fine to the Burundi-based club for their actions regarding the "rules and requirements governing jerseys and uniforms." In response, Burundian government officials and Dynamo's front office members made it clear that they were unwilling to comply in the following game.
In an intriguing development, our insider source revealed that the Basketball Africa League did not provide explicit written or verbal details regarding the specifics of the fine imposed on Dynamo for covering up the Visit Rwanda sponsor logo. This lack of clarity raises questions about the league's stance on the matter and adds to the situation's complexity.
In a late Monday evening email exchange, Jean-Paul Manirakiza, the President of the Burundi Basketball Federation (Fédération de Basketball du Burundi), emailed Dynamo Club President Joe D Rukundo, provided an alternate solution:
"Requests asking you to play with the official sponsor logo do not come from FEBABU [Fédération de Basketball du Burundi]. Therefore we recommend that you play either with your own jerseys or jerseys with the hidden logo like last time."
Following some deliberation, Joe D Rukundo followed this with an email to Ruben Boumtje, Associate Vice President, Head of Content and Broadcast Operations, Basketball Africa League (BAL) stating:
"...as directed by the Burundi Federation in their email that followed the BAL Notice, the Club Dynamo BC will not play its games with the current uniform unless provided with uniforms not carrying the sponsor logo."
These suggestions were ultimately rejected by the BAL and may bring sanction on the club and it's basketball federation.
Numerous experts and fans have speculated that FIBA, one of the two organising bodies of the BAL, may impose a rumoured five-year ban on the club and its basketball federation due to this infraction, following Dynamo's forfeiture of their second game and withdrawal of the league. However, our source disputes the technicalities of this notion:
"FIBA never explicitly said that they would sanction [Dynamo] for five years. They can't do that until a case has been opened and closed.
In the event of a sanction case being opened against Dynamo and their basketball federation, they would need to appoint a lawyer to present their case against the sanction. Following that, FIBA and the BAL would have to present their case for the sanction, explaining how Dynamo's actions impacted the competition.
Subsequently, a sanction would be imposed for review. Although a sanction can include a five-year ban, FIBA may be reluctant to do so because of the knock-on affect said ban would have on the development of basketball in Burundi.
During AfricaBasket's recent XSpaces event (formerly Twitter Spaces) discussing Dynamo's forfeit, an observer highlighted the potential repercussions of this issue, suggesting that teams from other African nations with tensions towards Rwanda might adopt a similar stance to Dynamo. This presents a situation that FIBA will need to address presently and in the future.
This is a dire situation for the Dynamo players, coaching staff, and the development of basketball in Burundi and African basketball as a whole. It's also embarrassing for the business of basketball across the continent.
