Basketball: Tashobya calls for thorough preps for national team

FUBA president Ambrose Tashobya has again underlined the need for thorough preparation ahead of Uganda's participation in the FIBA AfroBasket Championships and the FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers. 

Addressing the press during the launch of the 2017 National Basketball League championships that tip off on Friday, Tashobya sounded worried given their busy calendar.

Tashobya noted that the national basketball team budget may have to be increased. 

"Having our national team qualify for two international events is an achievement on our side but it also raises the need for us to raise more income to support them through out that whole period" said Tashobya.

"For that reason, we have already started our campaign to raise the money to avoid scenarios that happened during the FIBA Zone V championships" he added. 

According to Tashobya, the national team budget goes to about $116,000 (sh420.5m). Last year the team had a budget of over $30,000 (sh108.75m). 

Uganda's national basketball men's team, the Silverbacks, will be making their debut at the AfroBasket in September in Angola following their impressive performance at March's Zone 5 Championships in Cairo. 

Later in 2018, the team will take part in the qualifiers for the FIBA World Cup slated for 2019 in China.