NSBL slammed for meagre coordination
The 2024 National Souths Basketball League has been slammed for poor management of the games, which were hosted in Lae, Morobe Province.
Many teams were left disappointed after the competition ended in a bizarre state at the Sir Ignatius Kilage stadium last week Tuesday.
Whilst NSBL strongly pushed the games all the way to the grand final, teams that actually secured their spots in the finals quit immaturely.
Amongst many concerns that were raised throughout the tournament prompting this move include the lack of coordination, security and management issues resulting in teams prematurely exiting prior to the finals.
City Rangers team who was undefeated in the pool games returned to Port Moresby despite entering the quarterfinals due to destitute game administration.
“There was no communication between the games organizers and the NSBL patron and board,” Rangers president David Peter told NBC News.
“We faced a lot of issues surrounding the competition and these were not addressed properly.
“There was lack of coordination in terms of game management so we had to quit. For reasons that we spent a lot of money to bring our teams up and to not get the results we put effort into was a slap on the face.
“Majority of the teams that made the finals returned home because the finals were delayed.
“NSBL needs to be probed by PNG Sports Foundation and BFPNG to ensure smooth running of the games in the future.”
This year’s edition of NSBL received a lot of negative critics as social media backlash labelled the biggest offseason basketball competition as failed tournament.
“The overview of the 2024 National Souths Basketball League from April 12-15, I can say that it wasn’t run in a way we did in the previous years,” NSBL president Silas Nicky told NBC News.
“From the start we had short falls of technical officials, normally we organize everything before we go on the ground.
“I was the only person on the ground coordinating everything. There was no executive members or patron on the ground to give direction.
“I can say or declare that this tournament was a failed tournament.”
Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea vice president Simon Dixie who was engaged at the NSBL tournament also shared similar sentiments.
Dixie said technical errors bundled towards the end of the tournament as frustration boiled after the pool games were completed.
NSBL president Silas Nicky decided to host the finals at a later date as the calendar of the competition scheduled from April 12-15 had lapsed.
“There were lot of complains brought up in the last minute due to technical errors so we tried to entertain them but time was not on our side,” Dixie said.
“We tried to ensure the top-8 teams played the finals on the scheduled date but due to time factor we opted to play the finals at a time later.
“However, NSBL patron directed to finish the games on the 16th and suspended president Silas Nicky which I wasn’t aware.”
“I think the finals were hijacked because the teams that deserved to play quit and went home.”
Meanwhile, NSBL patron Johnny Yawari brushed aside negative critics and said the board had to step in swiftly to take charge and save the tournament from been unlawfully disrupted.
“The Board apologizes to all participating teams and particularly those who were potential contenders of the finals but could not continue to the back end of the tournament, due to the unfortunate disruption and premature announcement of the cancellation of the finals by disgruntled officials,” Yawari said in a statement.
“Board acknowledges there is room for improvement in all facets of the running of its tournaments in the future and looks forward to taking on those adjustments for the betterment of NSBL.”