The finals of the All Island U19 C Division tournament which was scheduled to be played between Amal International v Heejaz International School was abandoned and rescheduled with seven minutes remaining in the match due to a FIBA regulation.
When the game was called off the scores stood at 57-45 in favour of Heejaz International School.
The U19 C division All Island tournament commenced on the 9th Friday with the participation of ten schools. The tournament was organized by the Sri Lanka Schools’ Basketball Association and hosted by Vidura College, Colombo and Dharmapala Vidyala, Pannipitiya.
Out of the ten schools that participated, Rahula College and Zahira College qualified to play for the 3rd place playoff while Amal International and Heejaz International School qualified for the Championship finals. Both the matches were scheduled to be played on the 13th of September at the Dharmapala Vidyalaya basketball court premises with the third place playoff to be played at 3.00 PM while the finals were scheduled for 4.30 PM.
Yet, to everyone`s surprise, one of the two referees arrived at the playing premises twenty minutes late from the original time stated above. Hence the match that was scheduled to be played at 3.00 pm commenced twenty-five minutes late, at 3.25 PM.
Once the third place match was over, the finals of the tournament commenced at 5.00 PM, half an hour later than originally planned.
It is a known fact around the island that not all basketball premises enjoy the luxury of having light facilities. The organizers of the tournament, acting accordingly, have scheduled the matches to commence 3.00 PM so that both matches will conclude with enough light for the players to play the game.
With seven more minutes remaining in the game, the skipper of Amal International School lodged an official complaint, stating that they are unable to continue play due to bad light. With the official complaint, the organizers had taken measures to cut-down a few branches of a tree that were obstructing the flood lights while putting play on hold.
The play had been on hold for more than twenty minutes, which led the referees to decide to reschedule the match in accordance with the FIBA guidelines.
The guidelines are as follows:
If the game is stopped for more than twenty minutes, the game will be replayed.
FIBA guideline Article 46: Referees Duties and Powers, 46.9 states:
The official’s power shall begin when they arrive on the playing court 20 minutes before the game is scheduled to begin and end when the game clock signals sounds for the end of the playing time as approved by the officials.
Calling off the game and deciding that the match should be re-scheduled in accordance with the rule-book is fair and square.
Yet, is it fair to arrive at the playing premises twenty minutes late when the FIBA guidelines states twenty minutes before and delay the starting of the game when the organizers scheduled it at the original time to avoid the conflict of light effecting the play.
The organizers have not given a specific date as to when the game will be played.
