A team from Burundi forfeited one of their Basketball Africa League games over the weekend after refusing to play with a tournament sponsor’s logo on the front of their jerseys.
On Sunday, Dynamo BBC — a team based in Bujumbura, Burundi — forfeited their BAL game against FUS Rabat from Morocco when they refused to display the logo of Visit Rwanda, which promotes tourism in the neighbouring country. The game was officially recorded as a 20-0 win for FUS Rabat.
Dynamo played their opening Kalahari Conference game on Saturday against the Cape Town (South Africa) Tigers, winning 86-73. They played that game with black tape covering the Visit Rwanda logo in protest.
(Courtesy @theBAL / Twitter)
Dynamo Basketball Club (Burundi) has forfeited its game against FUS Rabat Basketball (Morocco) on Sunday, March 10 at the SunBet Arena for refusing to comply with the league’s rules governing jersey and uniform requirements, it was announced today by BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall.
— Basketball Africa League press release
According to ESPN, after Saturday’s game, Dynamo players didn’t talk much about the protest, but did confirm it was related to political tension between Burundi and Rwanda.
In January, Burundi closed their border with Rwanda. Burundi President Évariste Ndayishimiye, has accused the Rwandan government, led by President Paul Kagame, of backing the RED-Tabara rebel militia.
American guard Bryton Hobbs said on Instagram Live Sunday: “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.
“My thing is: We knew what we were getting into coming into the BAL. People had to sign contracts with the sponsors in the contracts and stuff like that, so they knew what they were getting themselves into, and yet we go practice outside for a whole month.
“Then, we get here, finally get a game in; we win by 13, really were up 20 the whole game, just to come to the next day and [have them] say, ‘Hey, you guys can’t play no more because it says Visit Rwanda on the jerseys,’ which is crazy because RwandAir comes in and out of Burundi the whole time.”
BAL Kalahari Conference games are being played in Pretoria, South Africa. Dynamo’s next scheduled game is against Clube Atlético Petroleos de Luanda from Angola on Tuesday, March 12. It’s unclear if Dynamo will uncover the Visit Rwanda for that game.
The BAL was formed in 2019 as a partnership between the NBA and FIBA with the goal of creating a premier continent-wide basketball league in Africa. This year, 12 teams qualified for the tournament, and they play in three conferences of four, with the top eight teams advancing first to seeding games and then to single-elimination playoffs. The defending champions are Al Ahly from Egypt.
UPDATE (March 12, 2024): Dynamo BBC didn’t back down from their protest and have therefore forfeited their participation in the BAL for 2024. The league issued the following statement on social media: