The FIBA Asia Champions Cup will be held in Iraq, which is designated as a travel ban.
Anyang KGC qualified for the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2023 to be held in Baghdad, Iraq from June 20th to 25th.
The Asian Champions Cup, hosted by FIBA, is a compulsory competition. So far, winning teams from Asian countries such as Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Lebanon have participated. In this competition, KGC, which lifted the championship trophy this season, qualified to participate. If you win the tournament, you can represent Asia in the Intercontinental Cup.
However, several problems exist.
Iraq is a country designated as a travel ban by the Korean government. In addition, the US government prohibits visa-free entry to those who have visited or stayed in countries such as Iraq and Sudan since March 2011. It is an embarrassing situation because there is a possibility of entering the United States for future field training or scouting. KGC delivered the current situation to the Korea Basketball Association.
A KGC official said, “On the 11th, we convened the team and held an orientation. Since it is a compulsory event to participate in, I decided that it was right to prepare as much as possible. However, the tournament will be held in Iraq, which has been declared a travel ban by the country. If you go to Iraq, you will not get a US visa-free travel permit. We have to make sure there are no problems in the future as we may have to visit the US for scouting or field training. I explained my position to the association, and I am waiting for an answer from FIBA.”
It is true that the preparation conditions are not good as the team’s vacation began after the 7th game of the championship match on the 7th. Oh Se-geun, Moon Seong-gon, and Bae Byung-joon have acquired FA (free agent) qualifications, and Byun Jun-hyung is scheduled to enlist in Sangmu on the 15th. Lens Abando left for the Philippines, and Omari Spellman and Daryl Munroe were undecided on whether to join KGC next season. Of course, KGC asked Abando to join them in order to fulfill their duty.
In the meantime, the Asian Champions Cup was held from the end of September to October, so there was no problem with foreign players participating. This is because it was carried out at the time the contract was concluded. However, the schedule was moved forward as the Basketball World Cup and Asian Games were held in August and September.먹튀검증
A KGC official said, “Even if you sign a contract with a foreign player to run the tournament, it will inevitably be a burden if you are an American national player. It is also difficult to organize domestic players. Nonetheless, preparations continue. We are collecting players’ schedules and thinking about uniforms that meet FIBA regulations. I have no choice but to wait for an answer from FIBA while preparing as much as possible. Nothing has been decided yet,” he said.
On the other hand, the Korea Basketball Association has been sanctioned by sanctions and disqualification from the Basketball World Cup qualifiers due to Corona 19 for not sending the national team to the Asian Cup qualifiers and Basketball World Cup qualifiers. That’s why you have to be more careful.