Report: Basketball Federation of India (BFI) hand 1-year bans to Amjyot Singh and Palpreet Singh; Amjyot not to appeal the ban

What's the story?

Members of the Men's National Basketball Team - Amjyot Singh and Palpreet Singh have been handed out one-year bans by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI).

In case you didn't know

Both Palpreet and Amjyot were drafted into the NBA G-League (previously D-League). While the former was drafted by the Long Island Nets in 2016, he was let go before the season began. On the other hand, Amjyot played for the OKC Blue and put up averages of 2.7 points and 8.3 minutes in 30 games played.

Heart of the matter

TOI was among the first to report the ban, even quoting Chander Mukhi Sharma, the secretary-general of BFI: “A national basketball player flaunts a picture on social media application Snapchat, abusing the nation after consumption of hard liquor. Is he really fit to be the part of the national squad?”

The secretary-general further states: “Just before the match at the Commonwealth Games, Amjyot had also slapped his teammate and compatriot Arshpreet Bhullar. Moreover, there had been complaints against Amjyot of misbehavior with the national coach. They did not report to the camp for three days. They were causing trouble at the camp, indulging in groupism. A disciplinary panel was constituted which decided the punishment,” said Mukhi.

When Sportskeeda contacted the secretary general, he confirmed the reports with a short answer stating that "both players have been banned for one-year on the grounds of indiscipline and misconduct."

Amjyot's manager, while speaking to Sportskeeda, said that an official statement/response from their end was yet to be released but they were certainly not looking to appeal the ban.

What's next?

Both players are slated to miss any national team action - two group games of the 2019 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers and the Asian Games - for the next one year. It would be interesting to see how both players respond and combat this ban.