The recently concluded FIBA U18 AfroBasket tournament had its share of highlights, from the triumphant teams lifting their trophies to young, aspiring basketball players earning individual accolades for their outstanding performances.
The tournament, hosted in the heart of South Africa, Pretoria, was also shaped by memorable moments from teams showcasing their cultural attire during the opening ceremony to ceremonial gatherings, as has been the norm of FIBA tournaments.
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Africa’s youthful boys and girls defended their prospective potential, in what turned out to be a two-week continental basketball showpiece at the University of Pretoria.
However, not all was rosy. For far too long, the tournament has been marred by several sticking challenges, raising concerns from Africa’s basketball prospects.
In particular, the just-concluded U18 Afrobasket's organization raised several questions, particularly about FIBA’s way of handling of key aspects of the tournament.
For instance, why were there no proper mechanisms in place to verify players’ ages, as is standard in other junior competitions?
Equally alarming, the tournament was characterised by delays, leaving many wondering why such logistical challenges occurred.
I spent two weeks in Pretoria covering the basketball event and here are several areas where FIBA Africa fell short and what to improve to ensure future tournaments run not only smoothly but also effectively.
Organization
FIBA’s tournaments have been widely recognized as the most well-organized competitions, but the previous competition proved otherwise.
South Africa’s FIBA U18 AfroBasket tournament for both men and women was postponed by a day due to delays by some of the participating countries.
This was blamed on logistical challenges, a concern that has also conflicted with game scheduling.
Scheduling games, according to coaches who preferred anonymity, allows for ample time for preparation and training. This was not the case in South Africa’s FIBA U-18 AfroBasket tournament where the schedules were altered in the last minute.
Age cheating
Another daunting challenge in junior tournaments is the age-old problem of age cheating commonly referred to as "Age Fraud”.
In recent years, age fraud has manifested itself in FIBA’s junior tournaments. While no players were disqualified in previous editions, concerns have been raised about the long-term threat caused by teams who violate FIBA’s age criteria.
To address the challenge, the mandatory use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) was introduced by FIBA as part of the efforts to help ascertain whether players are over age or not.
MRI is considered to be 99 percent accurate until the age of 17, after which it becomes harder for medical professionals to calculate a person’s age.
But, even with the existing regulations, cases still emerge. For instance, according to FIBA, U18 means that the said player does not become older than (above) 18 years in the current year of the tournament.
The regulations indicate that for all age categories (U16 category) for an event in 2017, only players turning 16 years old on January 1st, 2017 or after can register to this category.
But what prompts age cheating?
In some cases, it’s never really the fault of the player, according to several coaches. Instead, they argue that in some countries, birth certificates are inaccurate or even unavailable, without that being the fault of the player or the association.
But concerns are always raised when FIBA doesn’t conduct its tests before a tournament and still, overage players get busted.
Sports enthusiasts believe age cheating took a leap after the commercialisation of the game in Africa. On the other side of the coin, federations are allegedly encouraging players to alter their age so that it becomes less hard to obtain contracts with major international teams looking out for young talents.
A highly placed source argued that age fraud is a counterproductive practice. Age cheating is destroying basketball development in Africa. It makes tournaments useless because some players must not be playing because they are too old. What is the point of a 17-year-old competing in a tournament where the opposing team has players way over that age group?
The more this malpractice continues, the more we gradually lose credence. Africa’s youthful stars become subject to unfair scrutiny and taunts.
Ultimately, Africa needs to start playing clean, and FIBA has the call. Until then, this menace will live on and African teams will remain less productive and too mediocre to challenge counterparts in the World Cup.
Poor infrastructure
You expect a host country of any FIBA tournament to have the best sports infrastructure that facilitate the training and games of the participating teams, but it was not the case in South Africa during the U18 Afrobasket.
In particular, the classification tournament played at Pilditch indoor facility got backlash from majority of the coaches.
According to FIBA, the basketball playing court must have a flat, hard surface free from obstructions with dimensions of 28 m in length by 15 m in width measured from the inner edge of the boundary line.
It was not clear why the tournament was played in a semi-standard facility, that is barely maintained and well-furbished, but several coaches voiced concerns of playing on better and standardized facilities.
Additionally, there were no scoreboards at the pitch for players to periodically check their performance, something you don’t expect to encounter at a FIBA-organized tournament.