The Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) was dealt a severe blow ahead of their expected participation at the impending FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Pre-Qualifiers in March, as their request to commence preparation was denied by the National Covid-19 Taskforce.
According to the official correspondence, which was dated December 8th and signed by the Director of the National Covid-19 Task Force Colonel Nazrul Hussain, approval was denied under the current Covid-19 Emergency Measures.
The letter stated, “I hereby acknowledge receipt of your request dates November 25th 2020 for the commencement of basketball training. I am to inform that the Minister of Health has not approved for the recommencement of Basketball activities under the current Covid-19 Emergency Measures (No.12). These events will have to be rescheduled to a time when the measures permit.”
Efforts to contact the GABF President for a comment proved futile. Several calls to his cellular phone went unanswered up to press time. The prestigious tournament is scheduled to be hosted from February 17th-21st in the Central American nation of El Salvador. The Government’s new Covid-19 measures and guidelines allow for sport events to be staged once approval is sought and granted by the Ministry of Health.
The updates measures, which were issued in the Official Gazette on October 30th, took effect on November 1st and will remain in effect until November 30th, unless terminated prior, extended or amended by notice of the Minister of Health after an assessment of the prevailing public health situation.
The GABF has officially released their first provisional list of players for national team training. The 13 member provisional roster is headed by CBC winning captain Stanton Rose and features both local and overseas based players in the form of Travis Belgrave, Travis Burnett, Akeem Crandon, Delroy James, Anthony Moe, Nikkoloi Smith, Yannick Tappin, Timothy Thompson, Ray Victor, Shaine Webster, Terron Welch and Kevon Wiggins.
CBC winning coach Junior Hercules is tasked with the capacity of Head-coach, while Alex Graham has been confirmed as the Team Manager. The Assistant Coach is yet to be identified for the prestigious qualifier.
