Basketball: Race slur gets Waikato coach $2000 fine

By PETER JESSUP

Basketball New Zealand yesterday handed Waikato coach Jeff Green a $2000 fine for bringing the game into disrepute after a hearing into comments Green aimed at Tall Black and Auckland coach Tab Baldwin.

BBNZ have no established minimum and maximum penalties for off-court fouls so the "conviction" of Green and subsequent penalties remain open to proper legal inquiry. If anything comes from this, it's that the league needs to fix that.

The allegation was that Green called Baldwin's national squad selections racist and accused Baldwin of prejudice, a claim which Baldwin vigourously denied.

Auckland Basketball complained to the national governing body about Green's comments and sought sanctions including a long ban against him.

An independent panel appointed by the BBNZ board yesterday took submissions from both parties. All were sworn to secrecy.