Belfast Star: Holders forced to withdraw from men's Superleague after registration error

Irish men's Super League holders Belfast Star have had to withdraw from this season's competition because of a player registration error.

The club's leading scorer Max Cooper was ruled by competition organisers to have been improperly registered.

Cooper's family moved from England to the USA when he was 13 and Star thus registered him as a European player.

However, Superleague officials ruled that he should have been registered as an American player.

The Men's National Competitions Committee found that Cooper should have been deemed a Category 1 import as he was first registered as a basketball player with his American school as his previous English school was not registered with the local basketball governing body.

"Bill McCotter President of Belfast Star informed the Men's National Competitions Committee [MNCC] that an inadvertent error was made in the registration of their player Max Cooper," stated a letter from chairman of the Men's National Competitions Committee Gerry Kelly to all club secretaries in the league.

"The error has necessitated them forfeiting all points won in the National League to date and the withdrawal from the Super League with immediate effect."

Belfast Star won the title for the first time in 21 years in March 2020 before last year's competition was postponed because of the global pandemic.

Star were scheduled to play the final match of their regular season this weekend before continuing their bid to retain the title in the end-of-season play-offs which start next week.