(Georgetown, Guyana – 15 June 2022) – The Guyana Basketball Federation (GABF) regrettably announces the pending withdrawal of the Guyana Basketball U15 National Team from the FIBA Centrobasket U15 Championship scheduled for June 18-22 in Gurabo, Puerto Rico.
The withdrawal is due to US Embassy in Guyana being unable to accommodate expedited interviews for seven (7) members of our delegation. The request for the expedited interviews followed the process of team selection.
The US Embassy in Georgetown has on previous occasions facilitated the expedited interviews for national basketball teams but was unable to do so on this occasion. While the Embassy did offer to interview the delegation members at a later date there is only a window of one day remaining for the team to make it to Puerto Rico in time for the first game against the Bahamas.
After several interventions by the offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) America’s Regional Office, the GABF remains unsuccessful in securing appointments before the end of the week.
The fourteen (14) member delegation is already in possession of roundtrip airline tickets, as they must arrive two (2) days before their matches, which begin on 18 June, and will depart the US Territory on 23 June 2022.
The National Teams were previously placed in pairs taking into account their Nike Youth Ranking position. Then the teams and their spot were drawn to define the matchups. Here’s how the groups aligned:
Group A:
1. Costa Rica
2. Mexico
3. Dominican Republic
4. Turks and Caicos
Group B:
1. Panama
2. Guyana
3. Bahamas
4. Puerto Rico
The competition will be held at the Fernando “Rube” Hernandez Colosseum. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Semi-Finals while the rest will compete for the 5-8 spots.
In the Semi-Finals, the top two teams from each group will face the second team of each opposing group (1A vs 2B and 1B vs 2A). The Semi-Final winners will qualify for the gold medal game, while the losers will play for third place and the bronze medal.
The three best teams at the end of the tournament will qualify for the FIBA U16 Americas Championship in 2023.
