Suspension looms for Walujjo | Monitor

City Oilers will be without Edrine Walujjo when they start their National Basketball League semi-final series with UCU Canons Friday night.

The club, according to inside sources, has elected to suspend the player as investigations into his match-fixing allegations go on.

Walujjo was arrested and detained at Jinja Road Police Station last week for attempting to compromise the Benin team that was in Kampala for the U23 Fiba Nations League. The forward was then released on Police bond and recorded a statement with Fuba.

Although the federation has yet to come out with a statement on the whole matter, General Secretary Hudson Ssegamwenge told Daily Monitor that the Competitions Council (CC) is handling the matter.

“We are all waiting to hear from CC,” Ssegamwenge told this publication when contacted for an update. On Monday, Oilers released a statement affirming their commitment to following the matter to its logical conclusion.

“The City Oilers is committed to promoting fair play and ensuring integrity in basketball, and therefore does not condone this act. The club has been registered as a fellow complainant in the case brought by the Benin team, and is carrying out its own investigations at a club level to ascertain the validity of the claims and bring a swift solution to this issue,” a statement from the club read in part.

This publication now has information that Walujjo will not play any further part for City Oilers this season.

In a season where a lot has gone wrong for Oilers, Walujjo’s situation will only add insult to injury. Walujjo has established himself as a key piece of the Oilers team this season, with his versatility allowing him guard multiple positions on court.

His absence would mean that Oilers go into the business end of the season without four of the key players with whom they started the campaign.

The trio of Jimmy Enabu, James Okello and Tonny Drileba fell out with the club and left midway through the regular season to leave a massive void.

Head coach Andrew Tendo will now look to rely heavily on his starting unit, which comprises Fayed Baale, Ben Komakech, Ivan Muhwezi, Titus Lual and Moses Maker.

The support unit of Rogers Dauna, Benjamin Kawumi, Malual Dier and Allawi Ssenkubuge will have its work cut out against a stubborn and younger UCU side in the best-of-five series.

UCU defeated KCCA Panthers 82-52 in Game Three to win their quarterfinal series 2-1 and set up a semi-final clash with the nine-time champions.