Breakers Slapped On Wrist
Tagged in: NZ Breakers
The Australian National Basketball League has fined the Harvey Norman NZ Breakers $A5000 ($NZ6000) for a breach of its rules regarding approaches to contracted players.
The fine for “Subverting the Player Transfer Rules” results from the Breakers having held discussions with players CJ Bruton and Dillon Boucher, despite the pair still having contracts with the Brisbane Bullets.
NBL interim chief executive officer Chuck Harmison said the decision to fine the Breakers was a difficult one given the complex issues surrounding the breach.
“Quite clearly, the on-going sale of the Bullets license and discussions held with the contracted team members by the Brisbane ownership led to a certain amount of confusion amongst the other clubs as to the process they needed to undertake to negotiate with Bullets players,” said Harmison. “These extenuating circumstances have duly been taken into account, as has the Breakers full compliance with the League’s investigation of this matter.”
“The fact remains however that a breach of our rules has taken place, even if it was inadvertent. Our rules clearly state that you can only approach a player who is already under contract with the permission of their current club. New Zealand, to their credit, has admitted their infraction in the matter of Boucher and Bruton but the League office is left with no alternative but to fine the Breakers.”
Harmison said the NBL was continuing to look for evidence of any similar breaches regarding other players who held contracts with the Bullets.
“Certainly there has been significant media speculation about other clubs having negotiated with players under contract with the Bullets, and we are investigating these currently. If any hard evidence of similar breaches is found, sanctions will be imposed. ”
The Breakers are philosophical about the penalty.
Breakers general manager Richard Clarke said the club had not knowingly breached the rules, as it believed due to various communications between the Bullets and the players involved that they had been given the opportunity to talk to other clubs.
In discussions with the NBL regarding the situation, however, it became apparent there had been a breach of the rules. Clarke said the Breakers accepted errors had been made and the status of the players interpreted incorrectly.
“This is a unique situation in terms of the Bullets ownership situation and the different messages being received,” he said. “We believed we were acting appropriately, but accept the NBL assessment of how the rules have been breached.
“We are always prepared to admit when a mistake has been made and accept the consequences.
“We prefer to be completely transparent in these matters and, as such, have cooperated fully with the NBL.
“We are pleased this has now been resolved, and look forward to welcoming the players to the Breakers once the process has been completed with the Bullets and the NBL.”
