NBL Terminates Kings Licence

The National Basketball League (NBL) has terminated the licence held by the Sydney Kings after the club's ownership failed to remedy outstanding player payments outlined in a default notice issued to the club.

The Kings, whose licence was held by Dasolina Pty Ltd, were issued with a second consecutive default notice on 27th May for failure to pay a number of players.

The latest notification gives the Kings until 5pm on Wednesday 11th June to remedy the default or face termination of the team's licence. Despite repeated communication of the seriousness of the situation to Kings ownership and management, the outstanding payments were not made by the deadline.

As a result, the 13 other NBL Participants (Basketball Australia and the other 12 clubs) resolved that the Kings licence be terminated immediately.

NBL Chief Executive Officer Chuck Harmison said it was sad that the League was forced to take such drastic action, but that it was left with no other choice, stating "the termination of a team's licence is the most extreme action the League can take when a club is placed in default, but in the current circumstances it was quite simply the only course available to us.

"The team's ownership and management were repeatedly warned that the League was prepared to take this ultimate step and yet they chose to completely ignore the latest default notice. As a result, the NBL Participants regretfully made the only choice open to them - to terminate the Kings' licence. The Sydney Kings are no longer a participant in the National Basketball League."

Harmison said the League had not taken the decision to terminate the Kings' licence lightly, but that it was clearly necessary for the good of the competition.

"The League always has been and always will be larger than any one team," said Harmison. "The League could simply no longer tolerate one team letting all the others down, even if that team happened to be the Sydney Kings. We can now focus on preparations for the 2008/09 season without the unwelcome distraction the Kings crisis was providing. While the loss of their club will be keenly felt by Kings fans, just as it is by the rest of the League, the NBL must move on and continue with its business of providing world class basketball in three countries."

Harmison said the last ditch effort by businessman and former Kings owner Mike Wrublewski to take over ownership of the team from Dasolina Pty Ltd had failed because it did not satisfy the criteria for the NBL to begin considering the transfer of the licence.

"Under League rules, proposed new owners need to provide detailed information about their business model, but no such detail was submitted with Mike Wrublewski's request for a transfer of the licence before the default was triggered at the close of business yesterday. That made it simply impossible for the NBL even to consider the application and this was clearly communicated to Mike. The termination of the Kings licence however does not preclude future bids for a new NBL licence for Sydney, and the League is more than willing to consider any such application on its merits" Harmison added.

Harmison said that the League's first priority now was to ensure that the players who had been contracted to the Kings did not suffer any undue hardship.

"The NBL is working closely with the players who were contracted with Sydney for the 2008/09 season to protect their interests. With the Kings licence terminated, some players may now be eligible to access funds from the NBL's Hardship Fund should they find themselves suffering genuine financial hardship. I will be talking to the Kings players who are still owed money to ensure they are aware of the options open to them in what is undoubtedly a difficult and distressing time for them and their families."