BANMI to strictly implement ‘no pay, no play’ policy

Beginning in the 2004 Government Basketball League, teams that fail to pay entrance fees in full will not be allowed to suit up in tournaments sanctioned by the Basketball Association of the Northern Mariana Islands.

In a meeting held Tuesday evening, board members of BANMI unanimously voted to bar teams that do not pay entry fees from competing in sanctioned tournaments.

BANMI said one of the reasons the board decided not to send both a men’s and women’s team to the Palau 2004 South Pacific Mini Games was lack of money.

It said if only teams in the past several tournaments paid up their entrance fees and memberships fees, BANMI wouldn’t have been faced with the decision to exclude itself from the basketball competition in Palau.

BANMI president Mike Muna said the cycle of non-payment of entry fees should stop and the board will begin its “no pay, no play” policy starting in the government league.

So far, so good. Muna reported that most of the teams participating in the government league, which kicked off Wednesday night, have paid their entrance fees with a handful submitting sponsors’ promissory notes instead. Muna said BANMI allowed the issuing of promissory notes only in a case-by-case basis.

BANMI leagues lined up for the rest of the year are the Masters Basketball League and the 25-and-under Basketball League.

In the matter of what to do with teams that still have outstanding balances, Muna said BANMI will be keeping a close eye on them and will continue to pressure them to settle their accounts.

Muna even intimated that the board might even entertain a ban on habitual “non-paying” teams if ongoing talks with the aforementioned groups fail to persuade them to cough up the money.

Records show that some 20 teams from as way back as 2001 owe BANMI an estimated $4,000 in entrance fees alone. BANMI also charges $5 per player as membership fee and if counted, a couple of hundred dollars would be added to the total.

The $4,000 owed to BANMI could have covered a portion of the estimated $20,000 needed to send both a men’s and women’s team to Palau for the quadrennial Mini Games.

Aside from the Mini SPG trip to Palau, BANMI is also looking at raising seed money to start up its basketball developmental program for both the men and women of the Commonwealth.