A basketball player who was tripped by the rival team’s coach during a match and then banned for a year after apparently accusing officials of cheating and betting on the result, has appealed the decision, saying he has been misunderstood.
“My team was cheated out of a knockout by poor officials so they can win their damn bets on Bet365!” Derek Brown posted on social media after the ban was issued.
But yesterday, he told Times of Malta: “I’m going to be honest, it’s bull****. I feel like I’m being targeted...
“We put in an appeal today (Sunday). We’re not just giving up and rolling over on this,” the American Hibernians basketball player said.
A video went viral last week showing Starlites coach Paul Ferrante tripping Brown during a knock-out final game, where Starlites came out on top in a match that ended 75-74.
Ferrante was charged with misconduct by the Malta Basketball Association’s (MBA) Disciplinary Commissioner and was banned from participating in the sport until March 31.
The MBA also opened an investigation into Brown over his social media comments. On Saturday, it decided to ban Brown for a year.
“I get a jail sentence, he gets a slap on the wrist,” Brown said, reacting to the respective punishments.
He said he published the statement “out of anger” but insisted he had no intention of accusing officials of corruption. He claimed his message was misunderstood due to incorrect punctuation.
He had meant to include a comma before the word “so”, as he was referring to fans winning bets, not the officials. The intended statement, he said, was: “My team was cheated out of a knockout by poor officials, so they can win their damn bets on Bet365!”
A meeting was held between Brown and the MBA during which he attempted to clarify his statement. However, the MBA was not convinced and upheld the ban.
“In the meeting, they never even highlighted the fact that I got tripped. They were too focused on my betting comment,” he said, arguing this was completely unfair.
When Brown first signed with Hibernians, he said that foreigners who used to play in Malta told Brown multiple times that “they cheat for Starlites”.
However, he clarified that he was not making this accusation himself but that these rumours had led him to develop biases against the club.
Brown, who has been in Malta since August, says he has no intention of leaving, though his family is concerned for his safety.
Standing by his team, Brown says he is committed to fighting the ban and hopes to be back for the playoffs.
Times of Malta sent questions to the Malta Basketball Association on whether it considers the sentence against the player appropriate and what previous decisions involving similar offences were used by the association to come to its decisions on the Hibernians player.