T&T basketballers (men and women) will not take part in this year's Caribbean Basketball Championship (CBC) which runs from June 9�22 in Tortola, British Virgin Islands.
This, allegedly due to the National Basketball Federation of T&T's (NBFTT) failure to register both teams by the deadline date which coincided with CBC's 2015 Congress in Barbados on January 31. T&T, however, was represented at the congress.
The registration fee for each team in either competition is US$1,000 (TT$6000) each.
The CBC Web site reported that the draw for the competition was held in Barbados, on Sunday, February 22, with five Caribbean nations: Antigua, Barbados, the Bahamas, St Vincent and Guyana, as well as, the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands confirming their spots in both the women's and men's championships.
Jamaica will only compete in the women's event, while Suriname, Cayman Islands and Bermuda will challenge the men's tournament.
The T&T women's team finished fourth at last year's CBC Championship, winning two out of five matches, one of which was a one-sided 96�33 result over Guyana.
On the other hand, T&T's men's team, which sits second on the championship leader-board with four gold and three silver medals, will sit out its third successive CBC Championship, having last challenged the tournament in 2010, when it placed fourth.
By default, T&T's two teams are ruled out of qualification for a spot at the Centrobasket (Mexico, Central America an Caribbean) tournament, of which three spots (men and women) are available.
The Centrobasket serves as a qualifying competition for the FIBA Americas Championship and ultimately the 2016 Summer Olympics Basketball Tournament in Brazil.