The Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) has cried foul after East Asia Basketball Federation Association (EABA) Chairman Yao Ming's (姚明) decision to use world rankings instead of a qualifying tournament saw Taiwan miss out on a place at the upcoming FIBA Asia U16 Championship in Qatar.
The CTBA had written to the EABA asking for a "more reasonable explanation" as to why Yao and EABA Secretary-General Hu Shufen (胡淑芬) opted to forgo a qualifying tournament without consulting EABA member federations first, the association said in a statement yesterday.
Photo: Reuters
According to the CTBA, the EABA said it was not feasible to hold a qualifying tournament in the region and that it would be "the most appropriate arrangement" to select the three teams allocated for the subzone based on FIBA's world rankings.
Under the EABA's selection method, Taiwan missed out on the continental championships, which will take place in Doha from Sept. 17 to 24, due to its rank as the fourth-best nation in the region behind China, Japan and South Korea.
According to the CTBA, its Secretary-General Lee Yun-hsiang (李雲翔) complained to Hu in person at a recent FIBA assembly and wrote to FIBA Asia demanding a further explanation.
Meanwhile, in a more unorthodox bid to reverse the EABA's decision, CTBA Chairman Hsieh Tien-lin (謝典林) challenged Yao — an eight-time NBA all-star widely considered the greatest Chinese basketball player of all time — to a one-on-one game, a proposal described by one netizen as "suicidal."
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