Michael Singh, President of the Colts Basketball Club, said his team will not participate in any replay of the Road to Mecca Club Championship final despite Guyana Amateur Basketball Association (GABF) President Nigel Hinds stating the possibility exist.
The GABF, in an earlier press release, had apologized for the abandonment of the final noting that the decision made by an official which led to fracas was incorrect.
As such, the GABF stated, the fixture was likely to be replayed utilizing better officials locally and from overseas.
The final between Linden unit Retrieve Raiders and Georgetown side Colts was abandoned after the former team walked off the court in the fourth quarter alleging biased officiating. At the time of the stoppage, Colts was leading 54-51 with 9:18 remaining on the clock.
Raiders eventually returned to the playing area 20 minutes later following discussions with the GABF President.
Subsequently footage of the fouls which led to the incident was reviewed by Hinds, the officials and the Raiders captain. It was eventually deemed that mistakes were made by the official.
However the match did not resume after Colts opted to exit the arena, citing that the actions of their opponents could not be condoned.
Singh, in an invited comment said: “Negative. I feel as an administrator and as a person that controls a team that if we allow this, it will be a direct slap in the face and it will set a dangerous precedence for other teams who might not agree with decisions of the official that they can walk off the court.”
He added: “What type of example are we setting going into the CBC u-16 championship? What are we saying to the youths that we condone this behavior?
“We are not taking the court, if they want a rematch under a different circumstance, no problem but the bottom line is we are not playing back.”
According to Singh, he agreed with the comments made in a different section of the media by Peter Haynes, brother of Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Vice President of Finance and Marketing Patrick Haynes that the rules governing the sport by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) are not open to interpretation.
He declared:” I agree with him. It’s pretty straightforward, FIBA, International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) are international bodies who do not bend their rules for anyone.”
Asked if any sanction should be meted out to Raiders for their decision to walkout, he said:” I am for sanctions and it has to be monetary as it is the only way it hurt them. If you give them a year ban it won’t affect them because they don’t play as much basketball year-round in Linden.
“I agree with sanctions. These guys have to realize that a lot of resources are put into these events. We have sponsors who were there and it was not good for basketball. As an administrator, I am for sanctions because everyone in the back of their mind should know they can’t just walk off the court, finish the game and then go through the correct protocols.”
