As Singapore’s first professional basketball club, Singapore Slingers has been a key part of the sport’s development in the country.
Unfortunately, their future is now in jeopardy after news emerged of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) being unlikely to play again.
The Slingers had been competing in the league since 2009. Moving forward, they have said they will work with SportSG for their future plans.
On Monday (20 Nov), Singapore Slingers posted a statement regarding the matter.
“It is with a heavy heart and great disappointment that the Singapore Slingers ownership announce that the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) is unlikely to play for the foreseeable future,” the club said.
ABL has existed for 14 seasons since 2009, spending millions of dollars building a strong brand for regional basketball.
Source: Singapore Slingers on Facebook
Despite this, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) had informed them that the league did not fit into future plans for basketball in the region.
“FIBA will be selective of which leagues it would support and allow moving forward,” the Slingers said, adding:
FIBA’s clear instructions to the regional basketball federations essentially denied the ABL a viable future.
The club furthermore noted that for the past two years, the ABL had attempted to come to a compromise with FIBA without success.
Founded in 2006, the Slingers was Singapore’s first basketball club and was one of the founders of ABL.
Source: Singapore Slingers on Facebook
“The Singapore Slingers… will explore how it can continue to be a development platform for our top Singapore basketball players through the active involvement of SportSG,” the club said.
Through competing in the ABL, the Slingers contributed to the local basketball scene. They also held community outreach programmes and supported the ActiveSG Basketball Academy.
“We believe that the goodwill continues to reside in the fans, players past and present,” the Slingers said.
“As well as the younger generations of Singaporeans who have been exposed to basketball via the Slingers.”
The club then concluded the statement by thanking their season ticket members and fans for the support over the past 17 years.
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Featured image adapted from Facebook and Facebook.
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