PRETORIA, South Africa -- Burundian basketball team Dynamo BC covered BAL sponsor's "Visit Rwanda" logo on their uniforms with black tape Saturday in apparent response to the countries' political tensions before their first game of the tournament.
Dynamo, taking on host nation team Cape Town Tigers at the SunBet Arena and winning 86-73, came onto the court with the logo on their jersey fronts taped over, though they had attended the pre-tournament media day wearing unaltered kits.
Dynamo guard Bryton Hobbs, an American who plays for Burundi internationally, declined to explain the reasoning for Dynamo's decision in the post-match news conference, saying: "Right now as a club, we're just focused on basketball."
The Basketball Africa League, organised by the NBA and FIBA, has had a partnership with the Rwanda development board since the tournament's inaugural 2021 season, which was hosted in Kigali. Each year since, the Rwandan capital has hosted the playoffs and finals.
Tensions between Rwanda and Burundi escalated in January when Burundi closed the border between the landlocked central-eastern African countries, drawing anger from Rwanda. Weeks prior, Burundi President Évariste Ndayishimiye accused Paul Kagame's government of backing the RED-Tabara rebel militia.
Rwanda has repeatedly denied claims that it has supported rebels in Burundi. In 2016, President Paul Kagame was quoted by Reuters as responding to a report by UN experts claiming Rwanda had done so, with the retort: "Those people who write such stories could also be mobilised to be useful in addressing stories of country's problems, instead of exacerbating them or creating problems that shouldn't be there."
The BAL came to South Africa for the first time for its opening leg, the Kalahari Conference, with the opening games taking place Saturday.
FUS Rabat beat Petro de Luanda 82-73 earlier, with both teams sporting the "Visit Rwanda" logo before the game between Dynamo BBC and the Tigers. The Tigers sported the "Visit Rwanda" logo but it was conspicuously absent on the Dynamo playing strip.
The Kalahari Conference will continue until March 17 before the BAL moves on to the Nile Conference in Cairo and Dakar's Sahara Conference.
The seeding games, playoffs and finals will take place in Kigali May 24-June 1.