Kenya returns to FIBA AfroBasket after 30 years, Startimes to broadcast Rwanda showpiece

Kenya is among the four East African countries that will, for the first time in the history of AfroBasket, participate in the same edition of the African Championship.

The highly-anticipated FIBA AfroBasket 2021 will see 12 other teams converge in Kigali, Rwanda, as they battle for the right to be crowned the continent champions from 24^th August to 5^th September.

Pay television operator StarTimes Media is set to broadcast the event, which will be the 30^th edition of the championships.

Speaking during the unveil of the latest sports property on the StarTimes platform, the company’s Regional Marketing Director Aldrine Nsubuga noted that the broadcaster is set to beam the action live and exclusively across three sports channels including Sports Life, Sports Focus and BTV.

Kenya’s Morans will kick off their Group C campaign on 25th August against Cote D’Ivoire at 10pm with the second game set for 27^th Friday August against Nigeria at 4pm then conclude their group fixtures against Mali on 29^th August at 1pm.

“We are calling upon Kenyans to rally behind ‘Team Morans’ as the team carries the country’s high expectations especially after beating African heavyweights Angola in their electrifying final qualifying match to earn a spot at the tournament. StarTimes will exclusively air all the thirty six matches live across three of our sports channels,” said Nsubuga.

Africa’s newest country South Sudan, who became independent in 2011, is the only debutant at this year’s FIBA Africa’s premier basketball tournament. They qualified as runners-up of Group D of the Qualifiers with a 3-3 mark.

After a successful FIBA AfroCan 2019, where they finished second, Kenya qualified for the Final Round of the AfroBasket for the first time since 1993, while Uganda are returning to the tournament for the third straight time.

In a year that FIBA Africa celebrates its 60th anniversary, there will be joy, tears and, more importantly, the celebration of the African basketball festival.

All sixteen teams have been divided into four groups of four each as follows:

Group A: Rwanda (host), Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and Cape Verde

Group B: Tunisia, Central African Republic, Egypt and Guinea

Group C: Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya and Mali

Group D: Senegal, Cameroon, South Sudan and Uganda

The Group Phase’s 24 games will be played from 24^th to 29^th August, the group winners qualifying automatically to the quarter-finals while the teams that finish second and third will compete for the remaining four spots in the last eight.

The teams that finish last in their group will be eliminated.

PHOTO/COURTESY