JKL Lady Dolphins have challenged the decision by the Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations (FUBA) to award KIU Rangers a walkover in their National Basketball League fixture played on Saturday in Mukono.
In a statement, JKL said the team arrived at the venue at 10:00am ahead of the game that had been officially scheduled to tip off at 2:00pm.
According to the club, upon arrival, match officials informed them that the fixture had been pushed to 5:00pm.
However, JKL says they had not received any formal written communication from FUBA or the Competitions Council informing them of the change.
The club insists that under the FUBA Competition Handbook, any change in fixture time must be officially communicated in writing by the federation and not verbally by match officials on match day.
JKL argued that declining to play at 5:00pm was not a refusal to honour the fixture, but rather adherence to the officially communicated schedule.
“The team arrived four hours early and was ready to play at the scheduled time. A team that travels to the venue, waits for hours, and stands ready to play cannot be said to have failed to show up,” the statement noted.
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The club also maintains that match officials only have powers to postpone or cancel games under specific conditions such as safety concerns or environmental issues affecting the court, and no such reason was communicated to them.
Before the walkover decision was made, JKL says its Executive Chairman wrote formally to FUBA and the Competitions Council objecting to the schedule change and seeking clarification, but no response was received before the walkover was awarded to KIU Rangers.
JKL Lady Dolphins have now officially contested the decision, saying the threshold for awarding a walkover was not met since the team appeared and was prepared to play under the original fixture terms.
The five-time champions say that they are ready to continue participating in the National Basketball League and competing for the title.
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