WTF is wrong with this continent?

[greenarcher]

Lassiter and Lutz ineligible? Seriously?

I thought crab mentality only happens within our country. Apparently it is also rampant in FIBA Asia not to mention CHEATING by countries like Qatar. Hell even Lebanon has more questionable players than we do.

I wish we can be like Europe or the Americas. If this is what being an Asian means, it SUCKS.

We are already the worst in the world when it comes to basketball. Doing this makes it look like a desperate bunch of losers trying to make it to the Olympics so they can be humiliated by the real superpowers in basketball.

Lucky for Turkey and Russia they are not part of this f*cked up continent.

[babdelkader]

Lassiter and Lutz ineligible? Seriously?

I thought crab mentality only happens within our country. Apparently it is also rampant in FIBA Asia not to mention CHEATING by countries like Qatar. Hell even Lebanon has more questionable players than we do.

I wish we can be like Europe or the Americas. If this is what being an Asian means, it SUCKS.

We are already the worst in the world when it comes to basketball. Doing this makes it look like a desperate bunch of losers trying to make it to the Olympics so they can be humiliated by the real superpowers in basketball.

Lucky for Turkey and Russia they are not part of this f*cked up continent.

is that official ???
what about Qataris players too ?

[RedMetal]

mmmanotoc Matthew Manotoc
wow, just heard @ChrisLutz14 @ladylassiter13 have to be flip before 16? WTF. that means they're out for the tourney. thanks FIBA @tjmanotoc

[asero]

what's with the 16 yrs old thing on citizenship issue?
how come asi, kelly, norwood, menk were able to play in previous FIBA

[bukag.2011]

now tell me they are not looking at GILAS???

FIBA-Asia Deputy Secretary-General Hagop Khajirian, who is a Lebanese, needs a dose of a hot starbucks coffee..

he himself allowed lutz and lassiter to play FIBA-sanctioned tournaments before.

and now this?

Lebanon? whhhaaaaaatttt?! not scared huh...

bet you wont make it to the 2nd round, and if you do, GILAS will kill you.

you now need 2 el-khatib cos u started a WAR!

it is like eating back something u vomited already. talk about INTEGRITY?!

if ur gonna check eligibility you should have done it months before dumbA$$
not BARELY AN HOUR BEFORE a GAME.

if being asian is to classified with you, id rather be marsian.

[noilsen]

Fuckin Embarrassing...

[sickcurtain_16]

FIBA ASIA is a BIG MESS!!!

After Lassiter and Lutz played in SEABA, Stankovic, FIBA Asian Champs, Asian Games, it's only NOW that they questioned their eligibility. WTH, their moms are FILIPINOS. The timing is very obvious. Even with what they did to Qatar, it's not fair even if most deemed it's true that some of them are not Qataris, why now? Why not question them on the previous FIBA sanctioned tournaments? FIBA Asia is all MESS now.

[mavrick_h]

nothing actually everybody got questioned by the authorities of FIBA from Geneva.

[PacificRims]

“Any player with two legal nationalities or more by birth will choose at any age the national team for which he will play". Article 3 (16).

I think this would resolve the allegations, and for the last time, Lutz and Lassiter are NATURAL BORN FILIPINO CITIZENS!

[ver101]

Decision for Dual citizenships

Belize B-Ball Wins Decisive Victory at Court of Arbitration for Sports
Belize B-Ball Wins Decisive Victory at Court of Arbitration for Sports

There’s Major breaking news coming out of Lusanne, Switzerland tonight, as the Belize Basketball Federation has scored a huge win over FIBA at the International Court of Arbitration for Sports.

It was a final effort launched by the BBA, and the last chance at an appeal to hold unto Silver medals won at the COCABA games held in Cancun in August of last year. But more than that, the win means Belize can now participate in the upcoming Centro Basket tournament to be held in the Dominican Republic, June of this year.

In September of last year, Belize’s hope to keep its medals was dashed by the FIBA appeals court when that group ruled that 7 members of the Belize National team did not qualify to play since they did not hold valid Belizean citizenship.

The ruling meant that Belize’s participation in future regional championship matches would be placed in jeopardy as would the silver medal finish in CANCUN.

This set off an appeals of last resort which was heard last month in Lausanne Switzerland.

And the process ended in Belize’s favour today with today’s historic announcement that the country of Belize could keep its Silver medals and go on to compete in Santo Domingo. Attorney for the BBF, Godfrey Smith, headed Belize’s delegation to Switzerland; he was accompanied by Gareth Murillo, the Director of Immigration.

Smith – who worked pro bono for the BBF - says the import of the win cannot be overstated.

Godfrey Smith, Attorney for the BBF
”Very important for the BBF in terms of progressing successfully to the next round which is the CentroBasket, scheduled for July in the Dominican Republic. If the Federation hadn’t won the case, it would mean that it would have to face that, well maybe not even face the competition, because it would mean that we would have been stripped of the second place title that we got. But apart from that, we couldn’t face the competition with the same players that we had played with at the COCABA championship in Cancun, meaning some of the best players would not have been allowed to play. FIBA rules said that we can only play with one person who obtained citizenship of Belize after reaching the age of 16. We maintained from the outset that all of them, every single one of the Belizean players, had citizenship from the date of their birth or from Independence Day by virtue of descent, by virtue of being children of Belizeans. We thought it was a straightforward point. We were surprised when at the first stage, the FIBA Appeals Tribunal rejected the argument and came with some argument about dual citizenship. That the players would have had to apply to keep Belizean citizenship which we thought was a way-out argument or a way-out conclusion. And our position was vindicated by panel who basically set aside the decision of the FIBA Appeals Tribunal and ruled that all the players in question became Belizeans at birth. I should point out as well that it was very important to hear from Belize’s Director of Immigration, Mr. Murillo. In fact, there is a passage in the judgment that singles out his testimony as providing, in their words, comfort to the panel that in fact the Certificates of Affirmation that were issued after the players obtained the age of 16 were just an administrative matter.”

Jim McFadzean,
”So with win, Belize has now set a precedent for this arbitration court for sports, would you say?”

Godfrey Smith, Attorney for the BBF
”You are correct in that there are a number of courts of arbitration for decisions but none regarding this specific matter of dual nationality. So yes, Belize will shortly go on the Court of Arbitration for Sports website under decisions as one of the precedents in relation to dual nationality and how it applies in relation to FIBA games, FIBA-sanctioned competitions.”

Jim McFadzean,
”Had Belize not won this appeal, what have the consequences, the repercussions of such a decision, in retrospect?”

Godfrey Smith, Attorney for the BBF
”Well if we had not found the resources, and had the tenacity to pursue the appeal, it would have rested with the previous decision of the one-person FIBA Appeals Tribunal and that decision would have been THE decision. Namely in a situation like Belize where people have dual nationality, they would have ruled that the nationality of application is the effective nationality where you lived most of your life and spent most of your time. So, in the case of the Belizean players, that would have been the US so they would have been ruled unable to play for Belize so that would have been the precedent for other organizations like BBF. Thankfully, it went further and the matter has been clarified.”

Tomorrow the BBF will hold a press conference to discuss the victory and the way forward as Belize heads now to Centrobasket in the Dominican Republic.

[ZIMATAR]

They should look also the case of Joakim Noah and Charlie Villanueva...

[ricodgame]

since Marcio and Lutz are now allowed to play, maybe we can say lucky for us(Asians) Turkey and Russia do not belong in this Continent!

[babdelkader]

since Marcio and Lutz are now allowed to play, maybe we can say lucky for us(Asians) Turkey and Russia do not belong in this Continent!

Congratulations.
no excuses anymore