Latest update December 31st, 2024 1:20 AM
National Basketball Championships Game should be rescheduled
– says University Professor, former FIBA International Official
Distinguished academic and former FIBA international licensed referee, Jay Mandle has issued a letter where he stated that the abandoned National Basketball Championships Game should be rescheduled since that is the only way to determine “the better team and the rightful champion”.
W. Bradford Wiley Professor of Economics at Colgate University and former FIBA International Official, Jay R. Mandle (second left), and his wife University Professor, Joan Mandle (obliquely opposite him) during his meeting with GABF, LABA and GABA at the Marriot Hotel.
The W. Bradford Wiley Professor of Economics at Colgate University, who along with his wife, Joan Mandle, also a University Professor, co-authored ‘Caribbean Hoops: The Development of West Indian Basketball’, which has an entire chapter on Refereeing.
Mandle and his wife visited Guyana last week at the request of the University of Guyana and sat down with the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) President, Nigel Hinds and reps from the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA) and Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) Thursday morning at the Marriot Hotel to help resolve the imbroglio from the National Club Championships Final.
Linden’s Retrieve Raiders had walked off the court with 9:18 left on the game clock in the fourth quarter, down 51-54 against Colts, to protest what they believe was biased officiating at the Final on March 19, 2016 at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Below is the full text of the letter from Mandle on the matter:
‘The Club Championship Basketball Game on March 19 failed to produce a victor because players first on one team, and then the other, walked off the court.
As a long-time friend of, and sometimes participant as an internationally licensed FIBA official in Guyana basketball, I am distressed by the events that prevented the game from being completed.
In my lengthy conversations with members of the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation and its affiliates, I have gathered sufficient information to comment. I do so in the hope that such an unsatisfactory conclusion can be avoided in the future.
First, it is clear to me that no matter how controversial a referee’s call may be, the withdrawal of a team from the play of the game is unacceptable. It is an act of disrespect to the game and the institutions that support it.
There are channels that are available for teams and players to register their protests. But failing to play is not an acceptable form of protest and cannot be tolerated.
Second, since the failure to continue to play is a flagrant act of contempt for the sport, the referees should have ended the game, and declared the team that remained on the court the victor of a forfeited contest.
Once it was clear that one team made it impossible for the game to be resumed by walking off the court, the referee should have forfeited the game.
Third, since the referees erred in not declaring a forfeit, much of the action that ensued thereafter, including the issuing of technical fouls and awarding of foul shots, should be considered moot. None of that should have been implemented.
Fourth, in the interest of the integrity of the sport in Guyana, the Championship Game should be rescheduled. The game should be played in its entirety. No effort should be made to pick up the uncompleted game at its point of disruption. A full game is the only way to determine the better team and the rightful champion.
Fifth and finally, this event demonstrates that all participants, but particularly the players, showed a shocking disrespect for basketball. There is no basketball without support for the the rules and institutions that sustain and promote the sport.
Bringing disrespect to the sport, as this event did, threatens basketball in Guyana. All involved should work together to ensure a resolution to this unfortunate situation – showing their good will to support the sport they all love.’
Sincerely yours,
Jay R. Mandle
W. Bradford Wiley Professor of Economics
Colgate University
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