Troubled local basketball team Osos de Jalisco, which owes money to its players and to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), was disqualified from the Americas League on Monday.
The Bears, one of several tournament hosts, had made the semifinals of the competition in early February but will now be replaced by Club Mavort from Ecuador. They were disqualified for not complying with rules, presumably in relation to fees owed to the FIBA.
The Bears had asked to participate in the Americas League in a bid to attract more fans to the Guadalajara CODE dome after failing to make the playoffs in Mexico’s pro basketball league (LNBP).The Bears released a statement on Tuesday, claiming they had chosen to pull out of the tournament because of “grave administrative problems,” citing a “special situation which seriously affected the economic stability of the team [and] could not be overcome.”
A franchise revived only last year, the Bears endured a disastrous debut season in the LNBP, finishing second from bottom in the league table, attracting few fans and failing to show up for at least two games.
The team has been dogged by financial problems and its U.S. stars DerMarr Johnson, Michael Helton and Nicholas Stallings all left the team in the latter stages of the 2012-13 season, having not received their salaries for several months.