Djurgården Basket did not pay an invoice for referee costs on time, and according to the Swedish Basketball Association's competition rules, the club should then be penalized by not being allowed to play with its foreign players. On Friday, the news came from the union that it is turning off players who require a FIBA license.
But later in the day the news was gone from the website, and Djurgården's players later joined the team against Köping.
- They'll play. The players are not suspended. The decision has been upheld, says Johannes Wohlert, marketing and communications manager at the Swedish Basketball Association, to SVT Sport.
According to the competition rules, which the union referred to when they released the news that players are being turned off, it says under section 5:
“... In the case of unpaid invoices, all of the team's FIBA licenses are revoked until payment is registered, however at least one Federal Series match. For teams that do not have FIBA licenses, a penalty of 20% of the debt is payable ”
- The invoices have been paid so the players can compete. Exactly how and why I can't answer, says Johannes Wohlert.
Although the invoice is now paid, it is delayed, which you wrote a news on. And according to the competition rules, should players be suspended for at least one match until the payment is registered?
- I was not involved in the decision and cannot answer why they are playing. But the payment is complete, says Wohlert.
SVT Sport has applied for the Swedish Basketball Association's general secretary Johan Stark and competition manager Olle Lundén.