Qatar loaded with ringers?

Jordan coach Maz Trakh yesterday questioned the apparently abusive practice of granting citizenship to foreigners for the purpose of passing off imports as locals in Asian basketball competitions.

Trakh, an American who traces his roots to Kazakhstan and Jordan, said he plans to investigate the practice of "naturalizing" imports and check if FIBA (Federation Internationale de Basketball) has a law to curtail or regulate it.

Trakh, who spent a month here as a Talk ’N Text coaching consultant in the Philippine Basketball Association two years ago, was in town for the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup which ended Sunday. He coached Fastlink of Jordan to second place in the 10-team tournament.

Without pointing an accusing finger at FIBA-Asia president Sheikh Saud Bin Ali Al-Thani, Trakh wondered if it was legal for Champions Cup titlist Al Rayyan of Qatar to play a nearly all-import lineup. Sheikh Al-Thani is from Qatar.

"I don’t know about the citizenship laws in Qatar but from what I’m told, the Al Rayyan team had just a few players with Qatari roots," said Trakh. "If that’s true, it’s outright cheating."

In the Champions Cup eligibility rules, a team is allowed to recruit only up to two imports with the other players being locals. Since FIBA permits a national team to suit up one naturalized player, it stands to reason that a legitimate Champions Cup roster could list only two imports, a naturalized player and locals.

The two imports in the Qatar squad were eight-year National Basketball Association veteran Todd Day of Arkansas and Kansas State center Pervis Pasco.

Qatar forward Erfran Ali Saeed admitted to The Star he is from Senegal and has lived in Doha the last two years. Erfan scored 18 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in Qatar’s 83-76 win over Jordan in the Champions Cup Finals.

But Erfan claimed he’s the only African to be granted Qatari citizenship on the team.

A Qatar team source said guard Saad Abdul-Rahman Ali is from Canada. But when confronted in the locker room at the Araneta Coliseum, Saad said he is pure Qatari only "I speak good English."

Trakh said he suspects at least seven players from Al Rayyan were African ringers, raising doubts as to the legitimacy of the Qatar lineup. Several Qatari players were overheard speaking with distinct African accents.

The only Qatar player whom Trakh singled out to be "legitimate" was 6-8 Yaseem Ismail Mahmoud Mussa.

The original Qatar roster listed 6-2 George Gervin, Jr. as an import, Ali Turki Ali and Mohamed Orabi Al-Jabri. Gervin was replaced by Day, Ali by Khalid Sliman Abdi and Al-Jabri by Khalid Mubark Al-Hajri.

Qatar coach James Angeli, a Michigan native, said Day was brought in for the Manila tournament because of his size, solid credentials and experience. It was not explained why Ali and Al-Jabri were struck out of the lineup.

A Jordanian basketball consultant, Trakh said he intends to recruit American players with Palestinian and Jordanian roots to beef up the national squad. He said his sights are on a 7-2, 22-year-old

Palestinian-American who averaged 18 points a game for an NCAA Division II school.

"Within two years, we’ll be loaded," said Trakh. "We probably won’t be as athletic as Qatar but we’ll have better players. The flipside for us is we’ll get legit American players with bloodlines to Jordan. I’m excited about the prospect." His contract in Jordan is for three years.

Qatar was the only unbeaten team in the Champions Cup. Since taking over the club a year ago, Angeli has posted a 37-2 record and a renewal of his contract is expected. He said Saad’s triple late in the fourth period, Day’s 24-point eruption in the first half, Pasco’s inside defense, Mussa’s shadowing of Scotty Thurman and Erfan’s all-around game were the keys to Qatar’s win in the Finals.

Angeli, 43, was Eric Menk’s coach at Lake Superior State and remembers visiting the Fil-Am to offer a scholarship in his Charlotte, Michigan, home. He also coached at Bowling Green University, Bradley University and UCLA before moving to Doha.

While in Manila, Angeli said he met with Menk and his Filipina mother Lucy at the Astoria Plaza Hotel.

"I’ve always liked Eric as a player," he said. "I recruited him out of high school. He just got better and better year after year. His mother is quite upset because there are questions about Eric’s citizenship. I don’t think there’s any doubt she’s Filipina."

Angeli, wife Cristy and their three children took off for Boracay yesterday. They travel to Doha in a few days then return to Los Angeles. Angeli said he hopes to resume coaching in Qatar in August.