Asian Games: Fiba approved cancellation of basketball qualifying games, months before Hong Kong told they were excluded
- Organising committee sent letter to governing body’s regional office in June asking to cancel qualifying stage
- By the time request was approved, 23 men’s teams and 16 women’s teams had registered to take part in the Games
Asian Games officials asked basketball bosses if they could cancel qualifying for the men’s and women’s tournaments months before teams learned the news.
The Hong Kong Basketball Association was caught completely off guard last month, when media reports surfaced online in mainland China that the city’s men’s team had been excluded from the event in Hangzhou.
A 12-strong squad had already been named by that point, and athletes were included in a ceremony in July where the city’s flag was presented to the delegation heading to the Games.
In an exclusive interview with the Post, Raffi Kassabian, the sports and competitions manager for basketball’s governing body in Asia, said Fiba’s regional office had received a letter from the sports department of the Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee (HAGOC) on June 15, asking to cancel the qualifying stage.
“They said it would be difficult to organise qualifying games for the men’s and women’s basketball competitions since [Hangzhou Sports Park Gymnasium] was decided to be the backup venue for the opening and closing ceremonies,” Kassabian said.
He said instead, the organising committee wanted a tournament featuring the best 16 ranked men’s teams and top 12 women’s sides.