Panama suspended by FIBA, Mexico announced as replacement

A suspension was recently imposed on the Panamanian Basketball Federation which prevents its national teams from participating in international events.

In an official statement made by FIBA Americas, it states:

FIBA Secretary General, Mr. Patrick Baumann, announced the decision to suspend Panama, due to the many problems that Panama has been going through for several years due to conflicts of interest between two Directives that manifest hold the same authority. After visits by FIBA to that country, it has emerged that the National Federation fails to meet several of the provisions of the FIBA General Statutes.

FIBA has announced that Mexico will be replacing Panama in the upcoming FIBA Americas Championships. The event is slated to take place in Caracas, Venezuela, from August 30 to September 11. The top-four finishing teams automatically qualify to play in the World Championships, to be held in Spain in 2014. The United States of America has gained automatic qualification for the event due to its winning the gold medal in 2012 London Olympics.

FIBA Americas Secretary-General, Alberto Garcia, goes on to explain the decision:

“Given that Panama will not play in the continental event, that position belongs to the top-ranked country immediately in the same sub-sub zone. As Panama and Mexico belong to the same sub-sub zone (COCABA) therefore the spot belongs to Mexico because they held the sixth position in the Centrobasket.”