Dynamo Basketball team that was kicked out from Basketball Africa league (BAL) 2024 season
The Basketball Africa League (BAL) has officially disqualified Burundian Basketball Club- Dynamo from the 2024 games after the team refused to wear a jersey with the ‘Visit Rwanda’ logo on it.
The decision was taken this March 12, 2024 by the BAL president, Amadou Gallo Fall, after Dynamos players side covered the “VisitRwanda” message in their opening game in the Kalahari Conference in Pretoria, but also forfeited their next two matches.
The Kalahari Conference is one of the three sets of teams competing in the 2024 BAL season games where 12 teams have been divided into three conferences of four teams each.
Burundi’s Dynamo BBC was drawn alongside Cape Town Tigers (South Africa), FUS Rabat Basketball (Morocco) and Petro de Luanda (Angola) in the Kalahari Conference, while Rwanda’s Armée Patriotique Rwandaise Basketball (APR BBC) is drawn in the Sahara conference with teams like: AS Douanes (Senegal), Rivers Hoopers (Nigeria) and US Monastir (Tunisia).
Fall said the league had little choice but to expel the club for refusing to comply with the league’s rules governing jersey and uniform requirements.
VisitRwanda is one of the official sponsors of the BAL.
In June 2023 – The BAL and the Government of Rwanda, through the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Ministry of Sports and RwandAir announced a multi-year extension of their existing collaboration that will see the BAL continue to play games at BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda each season, including the BAL Playoffs and Finals in 2024, 2026 and 2028.
BAL, Rwanda government officials at the announcement of the multi-year extension deal to play BAL games in Kigali.
Apparently Dynamo taped over the ‘Visit Rwanda’ logo when they beat Cape Town Tigers 86-73 on Saturday, and then forfeited matches against FUS Rabat on Sunday and Petro de Luanda on Tuesday.
Dynamo guard Bryton Hobbs claimed on social media that the instruction to cover the logo had come from Burundi’s government, however the Burundi’s basketball federation have not commented on this allegation.
Bujumbura-based Dynamo were competing in the BAL for the first time and were scheduled to play a total of six games in the Kalahari Conference.
Fall said the situation leading to their withdrawal was “very unfortunate”.
“Dynamo Basketball Club has further refused to comply with the BAL’s rules and requirements,” he added in a statement.
“Under Fiba [International Basketball Federation] rules, two forfeitures in the same tournament trigger the club’s automatic withdrawal. This is a very unfortunate situation for the players and fans, and we share the frustrations of everyone involved,” the statement noted.
During their first Kalahari’s conference game, Dynamo decided to play covering the inscription “Visit Rwanda” which appear on all BAL jerseys.
