Officials need to get serious about basketball

Tue, Jun 26. 2012

Editor: The incident that transpired at the closing of the finals which caused the match to end “prematurely” was the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’.

Prior to that event, there were several critical concerns that MATAFIX Playaz had outlined to the Association that required immediate attention, but were left unattended for the entire tournament. They are as follow:-{{more}}

1. ‘Leadership in Absentia’ – President missing for 70% of the games and relying on second-hand information to be informed of various existing problems; hence the inability to quickly deal with situations as they arise and leaving them to get out of hand; the disrespect by the President shown towards the Sponsors of the Tournament by NOT being present for the opening or closing of the Tournament.

2. ‘Poor Communication’ – The inability to inform team(s) of their fixtures and addressing their concerns, causing a team to withdraw from the Tournament and another team refusing to play the semi-final game; late start of games because Referee(s) and Bench Officials failed to be on time.

3. ‘Substandard Officiating’ – Referees being intoxicated while officiating games; physical and verbal clashes with Officials and Players from various Teams; Officials running the Stop Clock were unaware/lost to what was happening because they are on their cell phones while a game is in progress; noticeably biased calls by Referees against Team(s) and individuals because of personal reasons; referee(s) refusing to referee more games early in the Tournament because of some of the above mentioned points.

It is with great regret that I am forced to expose the unprofessionalism of the SVG Basketball Association in the past National Tournaments. History can prove that the sport has been deteriorating since the 1990s. Persons familiar with the top executive members and best qualified Coach know that it is because of the uncaring and lackadaisical attitude of certain members of the executive why these persons refuse to play an active role or even attend a game.

Orlando Ferguson