Cezobal cries foul over corporate snub

The Central Zone Basketball League (Cezobal) has cried foul over the corporate sector’s failure to invest in basketball.

Cezobal says the development is making it difficult to organise  league and improve the infrastructure.

Currently, the only public basketball facility where the league games are played is Civo court while Africa Bible College (ABC) is available at a fee.

According to the league’s chairperson Hellen Chabunya, in the past year, they had submitted over 15 proposals to various companies asking for financial support, but no institution has showed interest.

“It is unfortunate that the sport does not have the support it deserves. Our league is very organised with good structures. We have employed an administrator who runs our operations, we have audited accounts, but we wonder why we don’t get support. Is it that basketball is still regarded as a minority sport?” Chabunya wondered.

She said the other public court at Kamuzu Institute for Sports need renovations before they can start hosting games.

To organise the games, Cezobal says it relies on clubs’ annual affiliation fee which is pegged at K70 000 per team.

Ministry of Sports and Culture, which owns the Kamuzu Institute for Sports, was non-committal when asked if it has plans to upgrade the court so it can match international standards.

“The problem of basketball venues will be resolved once an indoor sports complex in Lilongwe has been constructed.” said the ministry’s spokesperson Christopher Mbukwa. n