20 June 2007
SEYCHELLES : Suspension of Men’s division 1A and Women’s leagues
In the petition dated June 19, 2007 and which Sports Nation received a copy, the clubs expressed their “dissatisfaction in the manner the decision was made and announced”, adding that “we learned of the SBF decision in the Seychelles Nation newspaper and no official correspondence was sent to clubs.”
In the petition, the representatives of the clubs added that “we feel that the SBF should have consulted all registered basketball clubs prior to taking such a decision so that at least our views could have been taken into consideration.”
The clubs continue by saying that “whilst we do understand the need for the national team to be well-prepared for the IOIG, we are also of the opinion that it would be disadvantageous for the players not to be involved in competitive matches during this period.”
“We also believe that the SBF paid no regard to the fact that there are teams who employ foreign players at a cost of almost R10,000 per month. The teams will now find themselves in a situation whereby they will have to fork out allowances and pay for the accommodation of the foreign players without the latter playing any basketball for a period of three months,” the petition continued.
Before asking the SBF to reconsider its decision, the representatives of the clubs noted that suspending the league “will be detrimental to the well-being of basketball, a sport that usually attracts large crowds.”
The clubs have given the SBF a seven-day period to make a decision, failing to do so they will meet to decide on the next course of action.
The SBF decided to suspend the Men’s division 1A and Women’s leagues until after the IOIG to give the country’s two pre-selections ample time to train for these Games, slated for Madagascar from August 9 to 19.
