FILE – South Korea before its game against the Philippines in the Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers in Clark, Pampanga. Photo from Fiba
MANILA, Philippines—South Korea could face forfeiture in the 2023 Fiba Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers after it withdrew from the February window due to a COVID-19 spread in the team.
As per Korean new website Chosun, the national team that was set to play in the Philippines already disbanded on Tuesday and that a final decision was made to not participate in the qualifying tournament.
The team was supposed to fly to the Philippines on Tuesday but one of its players yielded a COVID-19 positive result after RT-PCR tests were administered on Monday.
It was confirmed that the player who tested positive played in a practice match against Korea University and that the team fears that additional infections could pop up.
Previous reports already suggested that the Korean national team had three players test positive including naturalized center Ra Gun-A, who was born Ricardo Ratliffe, and 2020 Korean Basketball League MVP Heo Hoon.
The Korea Basketball Association already informed Fiba that it would not attend the February window.
Fiba, however, has yet to make an official announcement regarding Korea’s status in the tournament.
Korea was supposed to play the Philippines on Thursday, New Zealand on Friday, Japan on Sunday, and the host once again on Monday.
All games were scheduled at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.