DESPITE being potentially one game away from Super League stardom, Belfast Star coach Adrian Fulton says Basketball Ireland acted swiftly and correctly by banning all activities due to the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
On Wednesday, Basketball Ireland was one of the first sports to declare a halt to their games even though the Super League title was still in the balance with just one round of games remaining.
In an enthralling championship race, Belfast Star and Tralee Warriors were virtually inseparable at the top of the Men’s League.
In a dramatic twist, the Super League was thrown into confusion over a player registration controversy involving Tralee’s Andre Berry.
The American, formerly of Rhode Island, wasn’t properly registered, with Tralee claiming that the club was let down by an administration error in the offices of Basketball Ireland.
The Kerry club won their appeal against six docked points, although they were still fined €750.
The docked points were subsequently restored to Tralee’s tally.
The Men’s National Competitions Committee then challenged the National Appeals Committee’s decision and the case has since been passed up the food chain to Arbitration.
After last week’s thrilling round of games, Tralee stood at 17 wins and four losses while Star have 16 wins and five losses.
Everything hinged on a single arbitration judge’s decision that was expected to be known before this weekend’s final round of games, which have since been cancelled because of coronavirus.
“Tralee, Basketball Ireland and Star have basically said whoever wins this appeal will win it,” said Fulton.
“With one game each to play it was essentially us or Tralee would be one game clear. There was all sorts of speculation of coming back at the start of next season but teams will change, rosters will change, Americans will change, so the teams agreed that’s going to be it.
“But everything pales into insignificance now.”
Fulton added: “When Basketball Ireland made their decision [to cease all activities] to say they were shutting it down, the players were wondering what was going to happen because obviously the outcome of the league was hanging on the results of this weekend. There was talk about playing behind closed doors and all sorts of stuff, but the board said: ‘No, we’re shutting this down.’
Fulton revealed there was disbelief among his Star players when Basketball Ireland announced its decision on Wednesday.
“In our WhatsApp group some of the lads were saying: ‘You’ve got to be kidding. With one game to go? Can we not train?’ There is a doctor in the group who said: ‘Lads, this is going to get serious. It’s not really a big deal.’
“Even a few days ago I was thinking that this was a bit of an over-reaction but it’s not. We want to win it and maybe when things hopefully settle down in six months’ time or a year we might be able to say we won it, but we’d a brilliant year anyway. It has been a lot of fun, but right now it’s a case of, whatever.”
During the Foot & Mouth crisis in 2001, Fulton was a player with Killester when the league was brought to a premature close.
Initially, the basketball authorities decreed the league null and void but that decision was later overturned and Killester were awarded the title on the basis that they’d won 18 games in a row and only needed one more win from their last five games.
“Foot and Mouth was a big deal in 2001 but it’s nothing compared to coronavirus,” said Fulton.
