FIBA sanctions National Basketball Federation of Trinidad and Tobago

The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has sanctioned the National Basketball Federation of TT (NBFTT) for failing to attend the 3x3 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers and for non-payment of AmeriCup 3x3 registration fees.

A NBFTT statement on Wednesday said, “Following the NBFTT’s failure to attend the 3x3 FIBA World Cup qualifiers and pay the AmeriCup 3x3 Basketball registration fees, the NBFTT has been sanctioned and FIBA has asked the NBFTT to explain what happened.”

Without confirming whether the NBFTT did respond, the statement added, “The NBFTT is awaiting FIBA's response. However, this situation is only with regard to 3x3 basketball programme.”

TT’s withdrawal now risks their eligibility to participate in the next edition of the FIBA 3x3 World Cup.

The confirmation of FIBA’s sanction was included in Wednesday’s e-mailed press release, titled Recognition of TT Basketballers 2023 for TT Olympic Committee Awards. The statement went on to nominate Chris Jaydon Roberts, 17, and Maya Raymond, 15, for the TTOC’s junior awards.

It also confirmed that Akheel “Smally” Boyd, 24, and Carissa Ramdial, 17, were nominated in the senior category.

When Newsday contacted NBFTT general secretary Clayton Blackman to get more information on FIBA’s sanction, he claimed there was no such document from the federation.

Newsday then contacted NBFTT vice president of marketing and communication Alexis Browne, who confirmed the release was true. But he did not want to go into additional details of FIBA’s sanctioning of NBFTT.

Calls to NBFTT president Jason Hills went unanswered.

However, Newsday obtained a copy of an October 23 FIBA document that was sent to Hills, entitled Opening of Disciplinary Proceedings – FIBA DO 3x3 12-23.

It said, “FIBA hereby opens disciplinary proceedings against the NBFTT for a potential breach of the FIBA Internal Regulations (FIBA IR). Specifically, we refer to the withdrawal of the TT men’s national team from the FIBA 3x3 World Cup Qualifier scheduled to take place on 6 and 7 May 2023 in Israel.”

FIBA also outlined a trail of “facts” explaining why the NBFTT was being sanctioned and the potential penalties.

It said, “On April 20, 2023, the NBFTT inquired to FIBA about the possibility to participate in the FIBA 3x3 AmeriCup 2023 despite having missed both the original and the granted two-week extended deadline for registration of participation.

“On the same day, FIBA informed the NBFTT that their participation in the FIBA 3x3 AmeriCup 2023 would not be possible due to the deadlines having already passed and the competition format having already been set.”

FIBA requested “final written confirmation” of the team’s participation in the FIBA 3x3 World Cup Qualifier. The team was registered by the NBFTT within the registration period, and the registration fee was also paid on time.

FIBA dubbed TT’s registration “binding” and said “such information was explicitly brought to the attention of NBFTT during the registration process.”

It added that on April 21, two weeks before their scheduled arrival, “The NBFTT informed FIBA of the team’s withdrawal from the event due to various governance issues which led to the inability to secure funding for participation.

“This withdrawal has caused significant damage to the competition creating a burden on FIBA to find a replacement team facing very high travel costs on such short notice.”

It also outlined the steps FIBA would take against the NBFTT.

Article 2-49 of the FIBA IR states, “A national member federation that has accepted an invitation to take part in a competition by sending its registration form shall be obliged to take part.”

Article 2-46 says, “FIBA may impose sanctions on a national member federation that, after having sent its registration, cancels its participation or fails to participate in one or more games of the competition or in any other official activity of the competition.”

It added that “As per article 6-40a of the FIBA IR, as a consequence of the NBFTT’s withdrawal of the event, the automatic ineligibility to participate in the next edition of the FIBA 3x3 World Cup has been enforced.

“FIBA hereby opens disciplinary proceedings against the NBFTT to take position on the additional consequences of the violation of articles 2-46, 2-49 and 6-40 of the FIBA IR.

“Please be advised that these proceedings shall be conducted in writing in accordance with article 1-217 of the FIBA IR. FIBA invites the NBFTT to submit any explanation, statement, or evidence by email to disciplinary@fiba.basketball by no later than November 6, 2023.”

It added that if FIBA does not receive any submission by NBFTT by the deadline, the NBFTT will be deemed to have wilfully waived its right to be heard and FIBA will issue a decision based on the information already on file.

Browne confirmed the NBFTT did respond to FIBA’s request, but said these current issues may be a chain reaction stemming from the previous administration.

“That is something that when we stepped into office, we would have met some things that were supposed to be done, and weren’t. We’re working out the logistics to clarify and fix everything. But I’m not in the position to give you all the information with that right now.”