Email

Print

The case of Belize’s national men’s senior basketball team is going before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne Switzerland at 2:00 in the afternoon on March 25th. This is the highest court for hearing any legal dispute arising from any organized sporting discipline anywhere in the world. The Belize Basketball Federation is arguing for the eligibility of seven of the Belizean-American players who played and earned silver for Belize in the 2009 COCABA Championship in Cancun, Mexico. That second place qualified Belize for the CENTRO-BASKET Tournament.

But it was second place under protest, because FIBA found that despite being entitled to Belizean citizenship at birth – because the 7 players did not claim their citizenship by the age of 16, they were not eligible to play as adults for Belize’s national team. It’s a major issue – because it imperils the short to medium term future for the national team which depends on the talents of these American born players who have Belizean parents.

It’s of consequence right now because FIBA Americas HAS announced that the 2010 Centro Basket Tournament will be played the Dominican Republic on July 5-11. The Tournament will feature ten national teams: Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago and US Virgin Islands.
A FIBA press release notes that “The classification of Belize depends on the appeal result sent to Lausanne, Switzerland about the eligibility of some of their players.” That hearing, as we noted will be held in March. The Belize basketball Fede3raiton will be represented by attorney Godfrey Smith.