FUBA wary of qualifying format

After soaring to the dizzy heights of Afrobasket this year, Ugandan basketball is bracing itself for the daunting task of maintaining their new-found status in 2016.

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Both Uganda's senior national teams made their debut at their respective continental championships but as FUBA president Ambrose Tashobya told New Vision, the joy of getting there has already given way to the anxiety of staying there.

"Getting to the top is easy," Tashobya referenced a familiar maxim, "but staying there is the difficult part."

Uganda qualified for Afrobasket after the Gazelles (women) won the 2014 Zone V qualifiers while their male counterparts (Silverbacks) finished second in their category.

This year will see the qualifiers for the 2017 Afrobasket tournaments but there is a new twist involved. Teams that will succeed at their respective regional qualifiers to reach the 2017 Afrobasket editions will be entered into Division A, which will subsequently be used as the criteria for future Afrobasket qualification.

Put simply, the Gazelles and Silverbacks must qualify for the 2017 Afrobasket. "This new change has put us in a position where we can't afford to fail to qualify," Tashobya.

"In my opinion, the next qualifier is even bigger than the last one (in 2014)."

It's some statement that, considering that Uganda's feats at the last qualifier opened up the country to the world of Afrobasket for the first time.

But Tashobya's point is that Ugandan basketball cannot go backwards now that it has arrived at the high table of African hoops.

Qualifying for the 2015 Afrobasket events was the result of widespread efforts spearheaded by FUBA under the direct supervision of the Mohammed Santur led National Team Management Committee. And round two awaits.

Tashobya explained: "Next month, I will have a meeting with Santur to begin the process of planning for the next qualifier. We don't have much time."

The hosting rights of the next qualifier have not been awarded yet but Tashobya revealed that, "We are bidding for the tournament. I told Bile (executive director FIBA Afrique) that we want to host it".