India no longer stepped on the floor of the SMART Araneta Coliseum when the clock struck 4:00PM on Sunday for their supposed game against Korea.
As of publishing, Korea has been disqualified from the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers for non-appearance.
Gilas had to step on the floor last Thursday to avoid forfeiture, taking a 20-0 win over Korea.
The Tall Blacks also did it the next day, making it the second straight forfeited game for Korea.
According to the FIBA 2020 Official Basketball Rules, the second time a team does not make an appearance for the second time, it will be disqualified outright.
Article 20.2.3 reads:
If in a tournament the team forfeits for the second time, the team shall be disqualified from the tournament and the results of all games played by this team shall be nullified.
This would mean that Group A of the World Cup Asian Qualifiers will only be composed of three teams, Gilas, the Tall Blacks, and India.
The Philippines and New Zealand hold 1-0 records while India is 0-1 officially.
All three will advance to the next round of the Qualifiers.
This would also mark the end of Korea’s World Cup dreams. Korea made it to the 2014 and 2019 editions of the tournament.
Korea had to pull out of the tournament due to a player contracting COVID-19 while the rest of the team were close contacts.
