William Navarro will not be able to join Seoul Samsung when it begins its 2022-23 Korean Basketball League season on October 16.
According to multiple sources closely monitoring the situation, the 25-year-old all-around forward was able to secure all the necessary documents asked of him before leaving for Korea except for one thing — a Letter of Clearance (LOC) from the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas. His contract with Gilas will run until March, 2023.
Though an appeal was made, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) denied it, saying that Navarro needed to finish his contract with Gilas Pilipinas Men first.
Unlike Jordan Heading’s case, Navarro needed an LOC from the SBP as it is his local federation. Heading’s transfer to T1’s Taichung a year ago was a different case as he was able to get his LOC from the United States (USA Basketball) as he is a dual citizen.
Back in July, Seoul Samsung announced that it had signed Navarro.
It was a welcome development for the full-time Gilas player who had only played 13 games over the past three years.
Back in 2021, he was drafted by Northport in the Gilas round of the PBA Rookie Draft.
For the meantime, Navarro will be back with Gilas.
