Burundi club Dynamo were withdrawn from the National Basketball Association (NBA)-affiliated Basketball Africa League (Bal)Â after refusing to wear a jersey with a “Visit Rwanda” logo on it during Kalahari Conference games in Pretoria, South Africa.
The border between neighbours Burundi and Rwanda was closed in January after the president Burundi, Evariste Ndayishimiye, accused Paul Kagame’s government of backing the Red-Tabara rebel militia.
Dynamo taped over the logo in their opening game in Pretoria against Cape Town Tigers but forfeited matches against Moroccan side FUS Rabat on Sunday and Petro de Luanda on Tuesday after failing to display the logo.
Dynamo’s American guard Bryton Hobbs took to social media to reveal his frustration, saying the instruction to cover the logo had come from the Burundi government.
Live on Instagram Hobbs said, “The government told our (club) president (Joe Dassin) that we can’t play, so they told the Bal that we have to forfeit our game because we blocked out the ‘Visit Rwanda’ thing.”
More About Basketball African League!
The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is the premier men’s basketball league in Africa. Founded in 2019, the organization was established by both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
