KAMPALA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Uganda's City Oilers basketball team will not defend their Federation of International Basketball Association (FIBA) Africa Zone 5 Club Championship title after they opted to pull out of the tournament.
The championship which will attract teams from Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Egypt, will take place from Sept. 30-Oct. 7 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Head coach Mande Juruni told Xinhua on Wednesday that because of a busy domestic schedule, the club management has decided they will not participate in the event this year.
"We shall miss out on defending the regional title. But the boys will also have time to prepare better for other engagements ahead," Juruni said.
Another Ugandan team, KIU Titans, who were expected to make their debut in the championship, have also pulled out.
"We do not have finances budgeted for the team to take part in the regional tournament. We are therefore pulling out," said club official Nasser Sserunjogi.
Ambrose Tashobya, the president of the Federation of Uganda Basketball Association told Xinhua that two Ugandan women's clubs, UCU Canons and KCCA have showed interest in participating in the regional event.
