Is Qatar playing ringers?

MANILA, Philippines — Gilas beat Qatar, 74-71, at the second Doha Invitational Cup last Friday even as the home team’s roster included three Americans, one from Bosna-Herzegovina and two from Senegal. The Americans were 6-7 Tyler Harris of New York, 6-2 Mike Lewis of Houston and 6-8 Donte Grantham of West Virginia. They’re listed by FIBA as holding US and Qatar citizenships. Under FIBA rules, only one naturalized player is eligible for the national team. There is no limit on foreign-born recruits with no blood lineage on condition they were issued passports before turning 16. Harris, Lewis and Grantham were over 20 when they landed in Qatar.

Bosnia-Herzegovina’s 6-6 Faris Avdic and Senegal’s 6-5 Babacar Dieng and 6-8 Seydou Ndoye were recruited to play for Qatar in 2014. That year, nine teenaged players from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro and several Senegalese arrived in Qatar to qualify as locals despite no Qatari lineage.  Qatar claims to follow FIBA guidelines on player eligibility. “Some of the players got their passports before turning 16,” said Gilas team manager/assistant coach Richard del Rosario. While Avdic, Dieng and Ndoye could’ve complied with the rule, it’s doubtful if Harris, Lewis or Grantham did.

Harris, 31, played at Providence College and Auburn before moving to France, Japan, Argentina, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, Syria and Qatar. He suited up for the LA Clippers and Denver in the NBA Summer League. Lewis, 27, played three years at Duquesne University then barnstormed Hungary, Poland, Italy, Lithuania, Israel and Germany before landing in Qatar. Grantham, 29, saw action at Clemson University and had a brief stint with the OKC Thunder in the 2018-19 NBA season, logging three games. He toured France, UK and Turkey before joining Qatar.

Against Gilas, Harris scored 17 points, Lewis 15 and Ndoye nine. Dieng, Grantham and Avdic failed to score. Qatar is in Group E with Iran, India and Kazakhstan in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers and if they advance to Jeddah with alleged ringers, it could spark a protest.