Controversy once again was the highlight of the evening as Colts defeated Ravens via forfeiture in the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) U23 championships after the latter walked off the playing area of the Burnham Hardcourt on Sunday.
The incident occurred when the officials requested that the Head-coach of Ravens, Marlon Rodriguez, remove a spectator from the team’s technical area.
According to reports, Rodriguez protested and refused the request and as such, following a second caution from the official was given a second technical. This resulted in Ravens leaving the area and the referees awarding the game to Colts. At the time of the stoppage, Colts were leading 29-19, five minutes into the second period.
Lead match official Oswald Benjamin, who made the final decision, said: “There was a violation against a member of Ravens who was standing in the coach’s area. My counterpart decided to stop the game and asked for the player to be removed from the area which he refused.
“As a result of that, my counterpart, Mr. Dexter Douglas, instituted a technical foul against the coach. I called the coach of Ravens and I asked him to please comply with the rules because having a non-player or spectator or a game follower of the team is not by law supposed to be at the coach’s area. However, he refused to comply and subsequently took his team off the court.”
Witness to the fracas was Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) Vice President Michael Singh who said the game was organized to give the next generation of basketball stars the requisite exposure and action will be taken on the guilty parties to ensure that a trend doesn’t develop.”
Singh, who also holds the title of Colts President, added that the GABF is currently in the process of cleaning house and that the entity will ensure discipline is maintained for the benefit of the sport.
