#BringBackOurArena

Bring back our Arena!

For years, Basketball in Uganda has played second fiddle to the more popular games like Rugby and Football, with not many fans or sponsors paying it much attention.

But today, the basketball league is in a hot bed of activity. Corporate sponsorship, a necessary part of developing any sport, any where in the world, is at an all time high and talented players can now do what they love and be paid for it.  

In the last 12 years, the average number of fans who turn up for league games has gone up from 50 to over 3,000, another 10 million viewers on TV and 15 million that listen to its coverage on radio.

Uganda now has the biggest and most competitive basketball league on the African continent with 68 teams competing annually across five (5) divisions. It is also the most diversely sponsored league on the continent.

The ongoing 2014 season, is however experiencing major setbacks on account of the malicious takeover of the Lugogo Indoor Stadium by MTN Uganda. Every nook and cranny inside the stadium has been covered in MTN branding, leaving no room for visibility of the official league sponsor or individual team sponsors at league games. This in essence makes it impossible for games to be played there.

An audit of the contract that awarded MTN Uganda such over zealous branding rights shows that it was drafted, negotiated and sanctioned by Anthony Katamba in his position as the National Council of Sports (NCS) Chairman at the time. Anthony Katamba is also the GM Corporate Services and Chief Legal Counsel at MTN Uganda, positions he also held at the time of the signing of the said contract. The conflict of interest is unquestionable. The contract stipulates that only MTN branding is allowed in the National Arena.

The basketball league has now been forced to move its games to outdoor courts like YMCA and Makerere University Main Ground; and has as a result, lost 2 months on the timetable because of the rains. The league will now end in February 2015 instead of December this year.

The move to the outdoor court also means that the league loses out on the exposure that it would have enjoyed from being aired on both terrestrial and continental television.  This season, Ugandans and people across Africa would have been able to view Ugandan Basketball on the local NBS TV and Urban TV as well as the continental DSTV. This can only happen if games are played in an indoor stadium; the Lugogo indoor stadium.

This is not the first time that MTN Uganda is engaging in underhand behavior in Basketball matters. In 2012, the Federation of Uganda Basketball Association (FUBA) filed a petition to the Office of the Prime Minister protesting a decision by MTN Uganda to block FUBA from hosting the Airtel National Basketball League in the Lugogo Indoor Stadium. In the same year, they almost caused Uganda international embarrassment by attempting to block the FIBA Africa Zone 5 Club Championships (clubs from 11 countries) from being played there.

With their man at the helm of the NCS, MTN Uganda was punishing FUBA for cancelling its sponsorship of the game and signing on their rivals, Airtel. The punishment continues, even though after heavy social pressure, Mr. Katamba had to resign his position at the NCS.

By signing and sharing this petition, you can help us make that first step in tasking MTN Uganda to be a role model, put an end to this corporate bullying and give Ugandan sports a fighting chance. The value of a thriving sports culture in our beloved country cannot be overemphasized. Sport remains one of the greatest tools that help the youth to develop positive and invaluable character traits and life values. 

For the Love of the game, #BringBackOurArena