Belize wins third COCABA game and beats Panama
Belize ninety-two, Panama eighty-eight and with that score Belize’s unblemished record on the court continued in the COCABA Championship for men. Although Team Belize is not ranked among the top fifty, our dream team defeated Panama despite its ranking as twenty-ninth on the world basketball charts. Team Belize proved too much for Team Panama. Despite rumours of a no show by Team Panama for today’s match, the game was off to an interesting start and in the final quarter the score remained close but in the end Belize secured its third win.
Team Belize is hoping to guarantee a spot in next year’s Centro Basket Tournament on the way to the 2012 London Olympics. But that might just be forlorn hope for Belize as FIBA’s position is still uncertain due to the Belize team fielding five players deemed ineligible. According to information received from our team in Cancun, Belize is merely playing as a visitor and not a competitor. News Five’s correspondent, Ava Lovell, spoke with President of the Belize Basketball Federation, Paul Thompson, who says that a formal appeal has been sent out to FIBA Switzerland about this development. Thompson says that a response must be given before the semi-finals of the tournament scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday.
Paul Thompson, President, Belize Basketball Federation
“We received a letter yesterday indicating that the games are unofficial and that they are having us play but it is not official. So that is the status of what they are saying.”
Ava Lovell
“So hence the reason for the appeal?”
Paul Thompson
“Exactly, so we are appeal based on that. An appeal has been formally sent to FIBA offices in Switzerland along with payment of a fee for an appeal and we have received acknowledgement of receipt of this appeal from FIBA Secretary General, Mr. Baumann.”
Ava Lovell
“Is there any indication as to how long before you get a response?”
Paul Thompson
“No, we haven’t gotten any word of how long a response will be, but we indicated in our mail that it is urgent and that we are about to play our third game of the first round and that we are looking forward to moving on to the next round.”
Ava Lovell
“Okay, so if a response is not received prior to the semifinals round what would that mean for Belize?”
Paul Thompson
“Right now the status is that the games are unofficial and we want to look at it positively and we believe that we will get a response before game time tomorrow. We will continue on course.”
We will keep our ears to the ground in Cancun and make an announcement as soon as Team Belize’s status is finalized before semi-final play. Tune into Channel Five’s Morning Show Open Your Eyes and News Five for continued coverage of the COCABA Championship for Men from Cancun.
