The Rwanda national basketball team is set to miss out on the services of power forward Jean Victor Mukama, as he has been named on the Canadian national basketball team preparing for the FIBA World Cup qualifiers.

Born in Canada to Rwandan parents, Mukama was eligible to feature for both countries, and recently, officials from the Rwanda Basketball Federation (Ferwaba) considered summoning him to join the national team that will play in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers.

The national basketball federation (Ferwaba)’s Second Vice President Richard Nyirishema told Times Sport that Mukama has always been interested in playing for Rwanda but there were some factors that hindered him from turning up, which are specifically related to his schedule at club level.

Currently, he is based in Spain where he plays club basketball.

Canada’s FIBA qualifiers:

Canada will play two games in a back-to-back set against the Bahamas this weekend. The first game will take place on Sunday at 4:00 P.M. ET and the second is set for Monday at 4:00 P.M. ET.

Canada has been grouped with the Dominican Republic, Bahamas and U.S. Virgin Islands, the same three countries they were grouped with during the first window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Americas Qualifiers back in 2017.

Canada is in Group C for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Qualifiers and will face the Dominican Republic, US Virgin Islands and Bahamas.

The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, set to take place from August 25 to September 10, 2023, will see the Group Phase take place in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia. The Final Phase will follow in the Philippines capital city of Manila.