In the middle of the morning yesterday, Tuesday, the president of the Belize Basketball Federation (BBF), Paul Thompson, received news he had been waiting on for the last six months.
To hear that the Federation’s appeal of a ruling against them last October by a one-man arbitration panel at the headquarters of the International Association of Basketball Federations (FIBA, in its French initials) in Switzerland to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had been successful, Thompson told us, provoked a mixture of elation and disbelief.
Immediately, the news began making the rounds – at the offices of the BBF, National Sports Council (NSC), the Ministry of Sports, and later, on both major television newscasts.
Today, the BBF called a press conference for 10:00 a.m. at the Best Western Belize Biltmore Plaza on the Northern Highway to discuss the significance of the decision and the Federation’s plans for the Centrobasquet Tournament, to be held from July 5 – 11 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, at which Belize intends to make “more than just an appearance,” as BBF General Secretary Julian Murrillo told Amandala.
Belize, who finished second in the COCABA Men’s Basketball Tournament in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico, last August, after narrowly losing to the host country in the final match, will join Mexico and eight other teams from the Caribbean region. The top 4 teams from the tournament advance to the FIBA Americas Tournament, the final step to qualification for the Summer Olympic Games in London, England, U.K. in 2012, and which will feature Canada and the United States.
Centrobasquet is also a qualifier for the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2011 (top 3 finishers) and the Central American and Caribbean Games in Puerto Rico later this year (top 8 finishers).
The substance of the appeal was that, according to Thompson, the BBF had recruited seven players born outside of Belize, to Belizean parents and therefore considered Belizeans under the Constitution, but were disqualified under Article H, section 2.3.3 of the FIBA regulations, which allows only one player on any national team who has acquired nationality of the country after the age of 16.
At the September, 2009, appeal to the judge, Dr. Ulrich Haas in Geneva, Switzerland, Dr. Haas ruled that the seven players were considered dual citizens under section 27 of the Constitution of Belize, which offers the option of keeping Belizean citizenship; but Belize argued that the players did not have to specifically do anything, because they were already Belizeans.
The appeal to CAS was heard in Lausanne in March, argued by attorney Godfrey Smith before a three-man tribunal, supported by Director of Immigration Gareth Murrillo.
On Tuesday, CAS reversed the decision and ordered FIBA to pay Belize’s costs of 8,000 Swiss francs. Prior to the announcement of the decision, FIBA decided to bar future appeals from its tribunal to CAS, a case of “locking the barn door after the horse has escaped,” according to the Federation.
This move affects all future appeals on regulations in all FIBA member countries.
Nevertheless, FIBA Americas has given the go-ahead for Belize to prepare, and the Federation has reactivated its National Team Program, and is currently in the process of reviewing the status of the team and other key issues on the path to Santo Domingo.
The team will be built mostly from scratch, but a number of foreign-based players, many of whom were members of the COCABA silver-medaling squad, including Marlon Garnett, Keenan Jourdan, Noel Felix and others, have committed to participating if they are selected.
Local players will also have a shot at getting in, based on their performances in the ongoing Belize District Basketball Association senior and junior tournaments. According to the Federation, their recruiting and development plan is in place to select the best players for the tournament, and the Federation believes it will be able to get any and all committed players, particularly from international tournaments which are nearing their conclusion or have already concluded.
One possible trouble spot is financing. Julian Murrillo flatly told Amandala that “we don’t stand on much right now” with regard to money in the coffers, and the Federation’s fundraising drive, which had hit “an uncertain period” over the last half-year, as a result of being stalled by the wait for the decision from Lausanne, will now kick into high gear.
Anthony Michael, Director of the National Sports Council, sitting in the audience and representing the Ministry of Sports, told the press that Government will give full support.
The Federation is counting on having a minimum of 4 – 5 weeks to prepare for the tournament, and the draw, postponed last week, is scheduled to be held soon. Kevin Siroki of the University of Belize is expected to continue as head coach of the national team.
It will be Belize’s second appearance at Centrobasquet, having first participated in 1999, after winning the CARICOM Tournament at the Belize City Center the previous year (we finished “out of the money”); and Julian Murrillo says our opponents believe we are the team to watch this time around.
The obvious enthusiasm at the head table this morning may only be matched by those who hope to take to the floor in July wearing Belize’s red, white and blue.
Amandala caught up with Gene Myvett, 27, a member of the COCABA team from last August and currently playing for the San Pedro Tigersharks in the BDBA senior league.
Myvett told us he was called by Thompson on Tuesday afternoon with the news, immediately following which Kevin Siroki contacted him via e-mail. Myvett himself talked via public networking site Facebook to other members of the 2009 COCABA team, including Herbie Allen, Richard Troyer and Kyron Stokes (Allen and Stokes are two of the players whose nationality was questioned by FIBA, as well as Garnett, Jourdan, Dakin Braddick, Charlie Burgess and Leon “Sonny” Watson).
While Myvett was not one of those questioned, he nonetheless told us that “…I was very displeased; I was very hurt, for FIBA to do something like that to us…it hurt me as a player and as a Belizean, and I am sure it hurt the other players as well.”
Myvett said he was born and raised here until age 4 before leaving for the United States, and had a Belize passport.
How did his teammates react to the news, and will they be ready for the increased level of competition?
Gene told us: “They were excited; they were like, you know, God is in our favor, and they are ready to go, now it’s time to handle business… we’re gonna be ready to play; we won’t take anybody lightly; we’ll come out and play our game, and take it from there…just believe, and have faith. We’re gonna get it done.”