Basketball
World Qualifiers: UK bans Belarusian mission from entering the country
FIBA’s decision to reschedule the UK vs Belarus game in Newcastle was inevitable after the government banned the guests’ mission from entering the country.
The UK-Belarus game is one of FIBA’s postponed games for the February “window”. The reason has to do with the situation in Ukraine, as the British government has issued a travel ban to the Belarusian mission.
In particular, the Home Secretary tweeted that she had made the decision to revoke the visas of all members of the Belarusian mission, making travel to the UK impossible.
As Priti Patel characteristically observed: “I revoked the visas of the members of the Belarusian delegation that was due to fight in Newcastle tomorrow night. Britain will not welcome national teams from countries involved in Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine“.
Now FIBA is on a quest to find a way to fill the gap created by Group B games (those of the national team) as the qualifying process rolls on.
We remind you that on July 3rd the Greek national team will play against Belarus in the last game of the first phase of qualification.
I am a sports writer and journalist who has written for various online publications including Sportish. I’m originally from the UK but currently live in Toronto, Canada. I’m also an author on Sportish and have written several articles on a variety of sports-related topics.