'We would have been happy to play' - Falkirk Fury head coach John Bunyan hits out at basketball cancellations last weekend

Falkirk Fury basketball head coach John Bunyan has outlined his displeasure at the sport’s governing body calling off all of last weekend’s domestic league fixtures.
Fury head coach John Bunyan was disappointed two home games against Glasgow Uni in league and cup last weekend were postponedFury head coach John Bunyan was disappointed two home games against Glasgow Uni in league and cup last weekend were postponed
Fury head coach John Bunyan was disappointed two home games against Glasgow Uni in league and cup last weekend were postponed

On Friday, Basketball Scotland stated on Twitter: “Due to the increasing numbers of Omicron cases and messaging from the Scottish Government emphasising the need to limit social interactions, we have decided to postpone the games taking place this weekend.”

But Bunyan said this statement had contradicted advice given by the authority earlier in the week.

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“We had five games scheduled to go ahead,” Bunyan said. "We were happy to play all of them. As the week progressed it was decided that only three of our games – one of which was our men’s team – were to go ahead but then Basketball Scotland said that they were cancelling games whether teams wanted to play or not.

"Our main point was that Basketball Scotland had been guided by sportscotland and the government guidelines all through the pandemic.

"And in actual fact there was no significant change to the guidelines if you like, other than the fact that Omicron was a slightly different scenario.

"So there was a wee bit of mixed messaging that could have been interpreted about the social settings impact of going to sports arenas.

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"But there were no halls closed, there was no requirement on teams not to play.

"So they did in our opinion – and that of two or three other clubs – deviate from what they had done all the way through the pandemic.

"Which was follow the guidelines of sportscotland and the government. They actually made the decision for clubs.

"Ultimately when they did actually cancel the games that were left, clubs weren’t happy.”

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Bunyan said his frustration was heightened by the fact that he sees Fury’s Grangemouth Sports Centre venue as being as suitable as any in the division to play games in during a pandemic.

"Our venue is probably one of the best in Scotland for games because it’s very big, a lot of seating and very open,” he added. "Some of the venues that games get played in, as you can imagine, are quite small school halls.”

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