The Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Sports Affairs Directorate released a statement following news items that indicate EMU has withdrawn from the basketball leagues. The statement noted that such news items are not indicative of the truth, whilst explaining that the aim of the statement is to prevent any misunderstanding that might occur as a result of the news items. The statement released is as follows:
In the 2016-2017 season, EMU will participate in the basketball leagues with three different teams. In the previous season the Men’s A Team was the only EMU team competing in a league. This season will see three EMU teams (Women’s A Team and 2 Men’s youth teams) competing in the basketball leagues. (We have previously relayed our thoughts regarding the Women’s A league to federation officials.) We have decided not to compete in the Men’s A league as a result of the shift that has seen the use of home-grown players decrease whilst large sums of money have been paid to transfer foreign players. We view this as not tying in to the amateur spirit. We view this as short term planning which sacrifices the future of our home-grown talent and believe that planning for the future is more important. For this reason the Rector’s Office has come to the decision of not entering the Men’s A Team to the league. However, EMU will be entering the Basketball leagues with three teams and more athletes than the previous year. We would like to wish good luck to all of the teams that will be competing in leagues this season.
