Marshon Brooks (R) of Guangdong Southern Tigers competes during the 8th round match against Xinjiang Flying Tigers at the 2022-2023 season of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Oct. 28, 2022. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai)
A one-year transfer ban was imposed on Chinese basketball club Xinjiang Flying Tigers.
BEIJING, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) on Friday announced a one-year transfer freeze on the Xinjiang Flying Tigers for breach of rules.
In a statement released on Friday, the CBA Disciplinary and Ethics Commission said that the Xinjiang club violated the CBA regulations for registration, which led to a one-year ban on signing new players.
This means that except for Xinjiang players whose registrations have gone effective for the 2022-23 season, the club cannot register any new Chinese player for one year, including pre-registered players, nor can the club trade any Chinese players during the period.
This punishment happened to work well for Chinese international center Zhou Qi who has been struggling to solve a contractual controversy with Xinjiang since 2021.
Zhou Qi (L) of China vies with Thon Maker of Australia during a Group B match of the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers, in Melbourne, Australia, June 30, 2022. (Photo by Bai Xue/Xinhua)
Sources from the CBA said that the latest punishment means the Xinjiang club has lost its exclusive right to keep Zhou Qi, who can now sign with any other CBA club.
Zhou, who played five seasons for Xinjiang, now plays for Australian National Basketball League (NBL) side South East Melbourne Phoenix.
Before the CBA decision, Xinjiang had pre-registered Zhou for the 2022-23 CBA season in case he returns to China although Zhou decided to play another season for the Phoenix.
Zhou is gearing up for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian qualifiers with the Chinese national team in Shanghai. ■
