{"id":1695,"date":"2025-11-04T11:40:51","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T11:40:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/?p=1695"},"modified":"2025-11-04T11:40:52","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T11:40:52","slug":"dr-congo-bans-coaches-players-over-participation-in-giants-of-africa-festival-in-kigali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africadiplomacy.net\/?p=1695","title":{"rendered":"DR Congo Bans Coaches, Players Over Participation in Giants of Africa Festival in Kigali"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Democratic Republic of Congo Basketball Federation (FEBACO) has permanently banned four coaches and suspended several players for participating in the Giants of Africa Festival<\/em> held in Kigali, Rwanda, without official authorization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The festival, which ran from July 26 to August 2, 2025, brought together young basketball talents and coaches from across the continent. It featured training clinics, games, workshops, and cultural events aimed at promoting sports development in Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants came from various countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, Tanzania, Botswana, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, Benin, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, and DR Congo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the event, the DR Congo Minister of Sports, Didier Budimbu Ntubuanga<\/em>, directed FEBACO to investigate individuals who represented the country and wore the national flag without government approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement issued this week, FEBACO announced disciplinary action against those involved. Four coaches, including Natacha Teba Mambengya \u00a0a former national team captain and current coach of BC Hatari \u00a0have been banned for life from all basketball activities in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, several players have been suspended for one year, while Gloire Tambwe Mwamba received a two-year ban for being a repeat offender. Mwamba had previously declined a national team call-up, which FEBACO considered an act of indiscipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The federation accused the group of \u201crepresenting the country and wearing its flag without proper authorization,\u201d calling the act a serious breach of national sports regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sanctions have sparked mixed reactions within the Congolese basketball community, with some calling for leniency given the event\u2019s continental purpose  to empower young African athletes  while others defend FEBACO\u2019s decision as necessary to enforce discipline and respect for institutional procedures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Author: Justinmind HARERIMANA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Democratic Republic of Congo Basketball Federation (FEBACO) has permanently banned four coaches and suspended several players for participating in the Giants of Africa Festival held in Kigali, Rwanda, without official authorization. The festival, which ran from July 26 to August 2, 2025, brought together young basketball talents and coaches from across the continent. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t