BASKETBALL/Int'l students protest exclusion from new basketball league draft

Taipei, July 2 (CNA) Eight basketball-playing international students who registered for the 2024 P. LEAGUE+ (PLG) draft appealed to the Taiwan basketball industry on Tuesday to support their right to play in an upcoming new league, after a merger involving two existing 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 PLG and the T1 LEAGUE (T1) announced their decision to exclude them from the draft which is scheduled to take place on July 15.

The decision came as part of ongoing discussions to flesh out the rules for the new league.

The two leagues said they decided to exclude 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 PLG draft, the eight players said they never expected to be informed of their exclusion from the draft two days before the combine, 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 may even be "discriminatory."

The eight students said in their joint statement that they had all been looking forward to the PLG 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, complaining 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 PLG, 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 the preparatory committee for the new league made the decision to bring Taiwan into line with other pro leagues in Asia.

It stressed 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, indicating it hopes they will continue to thrive in Taiwan and hopefully play in Taiwan's pro league as international players.