Venue hitch forces cancelation of league matches

What you need to know:

  • Dynamites head coach Juma Kent was disappointed by the situation, saying his team had trained and was prepared for the match
  • KBF had cancelled all fixtures scheduled for Saturday at Nyayo Gymnasium, and also rescheduled Sunday’s fixtures from the facility to USIU-A
  • Obilo said his team had received late communication about the match from KBF’s Competitions Secretary Joseph Amoko

Four second leg matches in Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) Premier League failed to take place at the weekend due to unavailability of match venues.

The matches were scheduled to be held at the United States International University - Africa (USIU-A) outdoor courts in Nairobi on Sunday.

University of Nairobi’s Dynamites were scheduled to play Zetech University from 2.30pm but the teams could not access USIU-A outdoor courts because students at the institution are currently on holiday.

Dynamites head coach Juma Kent was disappointed by the situation, saying his team had trained and was prepared for the match.

“It is sad because efforts to seek an alternative venue to host the match at Jamhuri High School also yielded no fruit,” a disappointed Juma said.

Juma, a retired Fiba international referee, said USIU-A’s management was not aware the institution was meant to host league matches on Sunday.

He said all local basketball league fixtures in Nairobi have been played at Nyayo Gymnasium for the last three weeks and the federation did not notify USIU-A’s management of plans to host Sunday’s matches at the institution in good time.

KBF had cancelled all fixtures scheduled for Saturday at Nyayo Gymnasium, and also rescheduled Sunday’s fixtures from the facility to USIU-A.

Zetech University head coach, Maurice Obilo, said they had learned of the postponement of their match at 4pm on Saturday.
“Its very unfortunate that league matches can be cancelled abruptly without notifying teams in good time. Teams make elaborate plans to travel with players for matches, and sponsoring institutions incur costs in the form of allowances paid out to players,” a visibly-disappointed Obilo said.

LATE COMMUNICATION

Obilo said his team had received late communication about the match from KBF’s Competitions Secretary Joseph Amoko. Amoko has been in Arusha for the week-long East Africa Secondary School Games.

KBF’s Assistant Fixtures secretary, Stephen Nyakina, has been unreachable since the beginning of the season.

Amoko has been running the show almost single-handedly. The situation has led to poorly coordinated league matches, with teams reporting many incidences of last-minute change in fixtures, repetition of matches, and confusion over match schedules at a great inconvenience to teams.

Other matches which had been scheduled for Saturday involved Mount Kenya University (Thika Campus) and Little Prince from 8.30am, and another between Blazers and Terrorists from 10am.
Umoja were also scheduled to lock horns with Equity Bank in the second leg of KBF men’s Premier League from 4pm. The second leg of the league is crucial for teams as coaches seek to secure slots in the eight-team play-off quarter-finals. Eldonets (men) and Africa Nazarene University (women) are men’s Division One league champions.

KPA are the defending champions of men’s Premier League, while Equity are women’s title holders.