Gilas Pilipinas member William Navarro has not been cleared to join the Seoul Samsung in the KBL due to an ongoing contract with the SBP until March 2023.
William Navarro has not been cleared by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas to transfer to the Korean Basketball League for its 2022-23 season after signing a contract with Seoul Samsung in July.
Despite securing all necessary documents before leaving for Korea, the crucial Letter of Clearance from SBP was not given to him even after appealing to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the governing body said that Navarro needed to finish his contract with Gilas Pilipinas which will will run until March, 2023.
The SBP released a statement on Sunday afternoon saying:
“After carefully reviewing the positions of the KBA and the SBP, Fiba issued its decision on September 12, 2022, not to allow Mr. Navarro to join the Samsung Thunders,” the national federation said.
Additionally, SBP explained that Navarro’s Gilas contract states that he needs to fulfill his contract that asks him to play for the national team and to make himself available for other activities.
“Recently, the Korea Basketball Association (KBA) requested FIBA for a Letter of Clearance (LOC) for William Raniel Navarro to play for the Samsung Thunders in Korea. However, Mr. Navarro has an existing contract to first, play for the national team, attend activities, practices, social and business functions and secondly, with his undeniable agreement, be assigned to only and no other team or ballclub than his PBA drafting team, Northport,” the statement explained.
The SBP also stressed that if Navarro did not have ties between him and the federation, an LOC would’ve been issued immediately as they are in favor of players from “furthering their careers with other teams here or overseas” but they added that it should he the players’ responsibility to honor their existing contracts.
“The SBP respects players’ rights to look for greener pastures. But players also need to respect agreements they have entered into with their teams,” added the statement.
Tags: #Gilas, #Basketball, #KBL