Enabu, Okot handed tough bans
Sep 16, 2009
Basketball governing body FUBA has banned UCU Canons point guard Ivan Enabu and his Mountain Dew Falcons counterpart Sunday Okot for one year for fighting during their clubs’ MTN-FUBA League match earlier this month.
By Charles Mutebi
Basketball governing body FUBA has banned UCU Canons point guard Ivan Enabu and his Mountain Dew Falcons counterpart Sunday Okot for one year for fighting during their clubs’ MTN-FUBA League match earlier this month.
Enabu and Okot were found guilty of breaching a FUBA rule which states that players convicted of fighting in a match “shall be suspended for 365 daysâ€.
The FUBA technical committee made the verdict after investigations into the incident of the hot-tempered encounter, played at YMCA September 6.
The committee also found Falcons Isaac Lugudde and Canons Michael Mityero of attempting to fight and using foul language. Each was suspended for four matches. Referees Edward Sendi and John Omondi, who were in charge of the match and blamed for failing to control the tempers, have also been banned - for one month, pending a review of their case.
Technical committee chairman William Musaazi said FUBA had to come out strongly on the offenders because they are not prepared to “entertain indiscipline at any costâ€. Musaazi acknowledged Enabu and Okot have had a clean record and were unfortunate to receive such a strong sentence.
He said the players “have never had any problems in the past†but insisted that the law had to take its course. He explained: “We couldn’t get emotional (with this case). When players fight, the verdict is one – suspension because what if (we had been lenient) and it (fighting) happens again.
“How will we defend the (one year) suspension?†Musaazi said that the affected parties had a week to appeal.
Basketball governing body FUBA has banned UCU Canons point guard Ivan Enabu and his Mountain Dew Falcons counterpart Sunday Okot for one year for fighting during their clubs’ MTN-FUBA League match earlier this month.
Enabu and Okot were found guilty of breaching a FUBA rule which states that players convicted of fighting in a match “shall be suspended for 365 daysâ€.
The FUBA technical committee made the verdict after investigations into the incident of the hot-tempered encounter, played at YMCA September 6.
The committee also found Falcons Isaac Lugudde and Canons Michael Mityero of attempting to fight and using foul language. Each was suspended for four matches. Referees Edward Sendi and John Omondi, who were in charge of the match and blamed for failing to control the tempers, have also been banned - for one month, pending a review of their case.
Technical committee chairman William Musaazi said FUBA had to come out strongly on the offenders because they are not prepared to “entertain indiscipline at any costâ€. Musaazi acknowledged Enabu and Okot have had a clean record and were unfortunate to receive such a strong sentence.
He said the players “have never had any problems in the past†but insisted that the law had to take its course. He explained: “We couldn’t get emotional (with this case). When players fight, the verdict is one – suspension because what if (we had been lenient) and it (fighting) happens again.
“How will we defend the (one year) suspension?†Musaazi said that the affected parties had a week to appeal.