SINGAPORE – In a stunning development, the Asean Basketball League (ABL) has stopped play indefinitely, casting a pall over the future of the Singapore Slingers – the Republic’s only professional basketball outfit – as well as the national team and the sport in the region.

The Straits Times learnt that the ABL and the Slingers are in dormancy after Fiba Asia, which governs the sport in the continent, withdrew its recognition for the 14-year-old league.

ABL and Slingers co-owner Wee Siew Kim confirmed the news, adding that plans to resume the ABL in its original home-and-away format in October were aborted due to Fiba Asia’s influence.

He told ST: “Over the past two years, the ABL has been struggling a lot in its correspondence with Fiba Asia, which has injected a lot of difficulties in the way of the league.

“In September, Fiba Asia sent a letter to remind all Asian basketball federations that they have withdrawn their recognition of the ABL.

“While it did not bar the federations from supporting the ABL, such a message made things difficult for the league.”

In the Sept 11 circular, which ST has seen, Hagop Khajirian, Fiba’s executive director for Asia, wrote: “It is crucial that technical officials refrain from any involvement in the ABL activities.”

Wee felt that this instruction effectively prevented the ABL from tipping off.

He added: “It would be unfair to keep our staff and players guessing, so we told them their contracts would not be renewed after they ran out in the third quarter.”

On Nov 20, the Slingers issued a statement on the situation and thanked their fans. They added that they will explore options to continue to be a development platform for Singapore’s top basketballers.

The ABL was launched in 2009 with six South-east Asian sides, including the Slingers, before adding teams from China, Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei from 2016.

At its peak, 10 teams competed in the 2018-19 season before the following campaign was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It made a soft return through the ABL 3X3 Cup in April 2022, before the ABL Invitational – an eight-team competition in three countries – took place from January to March 2023.

The Slingers, who were founded in 2006, were instrumental in the ABL’s launch and became a force to be reckoned with despite having a limited local talent pool.

They reached the ABL Finals in 2016, 2017 and 2019.

While they did not clinch the title, they made stars out of Wong Wei Long and Delvin Goh, while imports such as Xavier Alexander endeared themselves to the fans.

With players training and competing regularly, Singapore also ended a 34-year SEA Games basketball medal drought in 2013 with a bronze, which they retained in 2015.

Off the court, the club also conducted schools outreach programmes and were actively involved with the ActiveSG Basketball Academy.

Wee said: “I have four children aged 27 to 35 who grew up supporting the Slingers on weekends like many others. This is not something I can just walk away from.

“I feel sad because this is a powerful platform we built to take Singapore basketball to another level, but Fiba doesn’t recognise what has been done and achieved.”

Goh, who came through the ranks as a 16-year-old in 2011 and became a full-time pro with the Slingers, said the development has impacted him financially, as he no longer has a stable monthly income.

The part-time coach with the ActiveSG academy added: “It is also disappointing as many fans and aspiring players look to the Slingers as role models, and they may now question the future of Singapore basketball.”

Neo Beng Siang, who has coached the Slingers since 2010 and is the ActiveSG Basketball Academy principal, said: “We are all shocked, but it seems like there is nothing we can do except to move on.”

When contacted, a Sport Singapore spokesman said the development is a “business decision” by the organisers, adding that it is working with the Basketball Association of Singapore to ensure that the Slingers’ national players will “continue to have training and competition opportunities”.

“Sport Singapore has also reached out to the club to render assistance to the affected players,” he said.

“Our ActiveSG Basketball Academy (ABA) will also support affected players who wish to pursue coaching under the National Registry of Coaches scheme.

“ABA will continue to involve our national players in its programmes and leverage their experience to mentor our junior programme participants.”