Uganda's national basketball team is likely to have a foreigner as head coach as Francisco Garcia Avarez, a Spanish basketball tactician, has showed interests in coaching the team.

The 37-year-old has worked in Spain, Finland and Denmark at both club and national team levels.

"I would like to collaborate with you in your national team programs. I am so enthusiastic about working in a foreign land," Avarez was quoted by Daily Monitor on Wednesday as saying.

Uganda has had problems in building consistent national basketball teams. However, Federation of Uganda Basketball Associations (FUBA) president Ambrose Tashobya said they would be willing to welcome Avarez depending on his terms of work.

"He is welcome if he is interested in helping us develop the game. But it would be good to know how much he wants to earn before we take the next step," said Tashobya.

"Our focus is now developing the U-18 team and other youth structures," added Tashobya.

If a deal is to be reached, Avarez will become the first foreigner to work in Uganda as a fulltime national basketball team coach.

In another development, team Kampala (women) was over the weekend crowned champions of the Africa Zone 5 Inter Cities tournament after they outlasted hosts Dar es Salaam. The men's team finished third.

(Xinhua News Agency July 3, 2008)