As eight basketball-playing international students appealed to the Taiwanese basketball industry after they were excluded from the draft of an upcoming new league merging the P.League+ and the T1 League, the new league’s preparatory committee spokesperson Chang Shu-jen (張樹人) yesterday said the committee would tomorrow discuss the supplementary measures and whether the international students can join the draft.
The students on Tuesday called for support on their right to play in the upcoming new league, after a merger involving the two leagues impacted their eligibility for the draft.
The international players from the University Basketball Association (UBA), led by first pick prospect Mouhamed Lamine Mbaye of National Chengchi University, issued a joint statement in Chinese one day after the P.League+ and the T1 League announced their decision to exclude them from the draft, which is scheduled to take place on July 15.
Photo: Chen chih-chu, Taipei Times
The decision came as part of ongoing discussions to flesh out the rules for the new league.
The two leagues said they excluded international students from the draft because the new league does not expect the students to “effectively elevate the competitiveness of Taiwan basketball on the international stage.”
Emphasizing that they followed the registration procedures for the P.League+ draft, the eight players said they never expected to be informed of their exclusion from the draft two days before the combine — a trial session —, in which they still plan to participate.
“It’s hard for us to accept the new league’s decision,” they said, adding that the remark that international students cannot effectively contribute to improving Taiwan’s competitiveness in basketball is “unconvincing” and “lacking evidence,” and might even be “discriminatory.”
The eight students in their joint statement said that they had all been looking forward to the P.League+ draft, and their families have spent large sums of money to fly to Taiwan to support them.
“Is our dream shattered in Taiwan now? Or is there still any room for a turnaround?” the eight students asked in their statement.
Following the announcement on Monday, four-time UBA champion coach Chen Tzu-wei (陳子威) expressed his dissatisfaction with the drastic change, writing on social media platform Threads that the change has not given schools and coaches any time to make adjustments.
The international students have received notifications from the P.League+, saying they can decide to join in the combine or withdraw from it.
The two leagues issued a response to the international students’ statement on Tuesday night, reiterating that the preparatory committee for the new league made the decision to bring Taiwan in line with other pro leagues in Asia.
It said that the decision was made in accordance with Taiwan’s laws, and the new league’s rules and regulations, which have not been made public.
The committee offered an apology to the international students for introducing the rule change, saying it hopes they would continue to thrive in Taiwan and hopefully play in the nation’s pro league as international players.
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