“We had an orientation today to prepare for the competition. But there are some things that I am struggling with.”
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) will host the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2023 in Baghdad, Iraq from June 20 to 25. This tournament, which has been held since 1981, is a stage where champions from each country’s league gather and compete with each other’s top clubs.
The 2022-23 season KBL champion is Anyang KGC. They qualified to participate in this competition. But there are many worries. The venue of the convention is Baghdad. Of course, it is still an unstable area, and there are many restrictions when going to other countries, especially the United States, when you go here, so you have to be reluctant in many ways.
In fact, with the championship match ahead, both KGC and SK had the same concerns. In particular, SK, which went 3-2 after winning 토스카지노 the 5th game, recalled that Kim Seon-hyeong played a national team game in the Middle East and suffered for a long time at the US airport.
On the 11th, KGC convened the squad for an orientation related to the competition. In the current situation, it is said that it is preparing for the competition. But there are many troubles. Due to the aforementioned limitations, we have requested help from the Korea Basketball Association.
A KGC official said, “The Asian Champions Cup is a competition that league champions from each country must participate in. Since we have also been qualified to participate, it is right to prepare as much as possible at this stage,” he said. “Of course, we are watching the situation. We know, of course, that countries participating in the Games, such as Japan, are also concerned about the Games being held in Baghdad. I also heard that FIBA is thinking in various directions. It’s not something we can decide, so we’re waiting and preparing as much as possible.”
He said, “It’s not that we said we wouldn’t go to the competition right away, so we shouldn’t. It is not a competition only held in Korea, so we cannot make a hasty decision. Of course, there are still concerns about Iraq and Baghdad, and I heard that FIBA is also aware of it. Even if he participates, there will be additional problems, but for now, we hope that he will solve them well so that there is no disadvantage.”
Even if various issues are resolved, the current KGC situation makes it difficult to focus 100% on the tournament. First of all, negotiations are underway with FA players such as Oh Se-geun, Moon Seong-gon, Bae Byung-jun, and Ham Joon-hoo. If they stay, they will compete in the tournament, but if they don’t, there will be a power gap. Once the information related to the competition has been provided.
He told Lens Abando, who had a contract period remaining, the time to join. However, it is now difficult to force non-KGC players to participate in the tournament, such as Omari Spellman and Darryl Monroe. Since the contract renewal period is until the end of May, there will be no big problem if it is resolved within that time, but the competition held in Baghdad can be a big burden for players with American nationality.
In fact, there has been no problem with foreign players related to the Asian Champions Cup. As the tournament was held from the end of September to October, that was the point at which all contracts for foreign players were finalized. This time, however, the schedule was extended as the Basketball World Cup and Asian Games are held in August and September. After all, it is KGC that has to think about foreign players.
A KGC official said, “It is difficult to make any decisions at this time. There is also a plan where one or two foreign players are not taken if it is really difficult. It is difficult to organize domestic players, but foreign players are no different. If the contract is renewed within May, the problem will be less, but if not, you have to find a new foreign player,” he said. “Of course, it can be a competition to test new foreign players. If you look at it positively, yes,” he said.
If so, what is the association’s position? After all, from an international point of view, Korea’s association is a representative organization, and if it is a FIBA-sponsored event, they must convey their official position.
An official from the association said, “Iraq is a country designated as a travel ban by the country. It is a situation in which an official letter has been sent to FIBA stating that the situation is difficult due to this fact.” For now, we just hope that FIBA will understand our position and make the best choice.”
However, there is a possibility that FIBA will not be able to come up with a solution because it does not properly grasp the situation. If so, the worst case is to endure the aftereffects after participating in the competition, or to not participate in the competition. In the case of the latter, FIBA’s sanctions also cannot be considered.
The association has already been sanctioned for not participating in the Asian Cup qualifiers and the Basketball World Cup qualifiers due to Corona 19 issues, resulting in sanctions and disqualification from the Basketball World Cup qualifiers. If a problem occurs until the Asian Champions Cup, additional sanctions can not help but worry.
However, the association said, “Currently, we are not considering such a problem. Right now, my top priority is to help KGC move in a positive direction.”