City Oilers general manager Hajji Mohammed Santur insists that National Basketball League Champions City Oilers are not participating in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) to make numbers.
The record National Basketball League champions sealed a slot in Africa's premier basketball club competition in November 2022, after two attempts.
The Oilers defeated Burundi's Urunani 71-62 in a third-place match in the Elite 16 Division East showpiece to earn their first slot at the BAL.
"We are not going to BAL for the sake of it, we are representing Uganda, and we must do it with the energy we have,” Santur said.
“Playing at BAL is a big step for us, and we are preparing to do our best.
"There's no way you can compete at that stage without making a few additions, and when the time is right, you will be the first to know," he added.
The 12-team BAL tournament will have two conferences in Nile and Sahara, each with six clubs. The top four clubs from each conference will qualify for the final knockout tournament in Kigali.
The City Oilers are pooled in the Nile Conference alongside Al Ahly (Egypt), Cape Town Tigers (South Africa), Clube Ferroviário da Beira – CFV Beira (Mozambique), Club Atlético Petróleos de Luanda – Petro de Luanda (Angola) and Seydou Legacy Athlétique Club – SLAC (Guinea).
Tunisia's Union Sportive Monastirienne are the defending champions of the competition which is set to tip off on March 11th with the Sahara Conference in Dakar, Senegal, while the Oilers' conference will get underway in April in Cairo, Egypt.
The BAL Groups 2023
Sahara Conference: Abidjan Basket Club – ABC Fighters (Côte d’Ivoire), AS Douanes (Senegal), Kwara Falcons (Nigeria), Rwanda Energy Group – REG (Rwanda), Stade Malien (Mali), Union Sportive Monastirienne – US Monastir (Tunisia).
Nile Conference: Al Ahly (Egypt), Cape Town Tigers (South Africa), Clube Ferroviário da Beira – CFV Beira (Mozambique), Club Atlético Petróleos de Luanda – Petro de Luanda (Angola) and Seydou Legacy Athlétique Club – SLAC (Guinea).
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