Delayed Souths basketball tourney set for tip-off

THE National Souths Basketball League (NSBL) tournament is set for tip-off today in Goroka, Eastern Highlands, after last week’s deferral.
The tournament was initially scheduled for July 1-4, but due to an incident, the NSBL committee along with police and relevant authorities agreed to defer it by a week for safety reasons.
NSBL patron Johnny Yawari told The National yesterday that this year’s tournament had attracted 24 teams, 12 women’s and men’s teams each.
“The tournament is on again, thanks to the cooperation of teams, officials, police and the community,” he said.
“The unfortunate incident that caused the delay is being dealt with by the relevant authorities.
“Given the recent incident and the risk of potential retaliation, we were compelled to avoid risking the lives of our players, officials and supporters.
“We felt obliged to avoid the congregation of thousands of people from Southern Highlands that could trigger potential retaliation.
“It was a very difficult decision, but we believe the safety of the players, officials and supporters is paramount and can’t be compromised under any circumstance.
“We convey our appreciation and respect to everyone.
“Due to Covid-19 restrictions, we didn’t hold the tournament last year because of the measure (restricting) gatherings of up to 100 people.
“We now have Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea approval, so the tournament will go ahead, but with guidelines and restrictions.”
Yawari said the last tournament held in Lae in 2019 ended successfully with men’s team, Epari Souths, crowned champions and Hagen Original claiming the women’s title.