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Five basketball players kicked out of national team

By Editor. 25.09.2009

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The Latvian Basketball Association has disqualified five members of the men's national team for disciplinary reasons.

Kristaps Valters is disqualified for three years , for two years - Armands Skele. Kaspars Berzins, Andris Biedrins and Kaspars Kambala all received qualified one-year penalties, informs Leta.

The Association's board had reviewed reports from team coaches and managers and information in the mass media before arriving at the decision. The board's stance is that national team members serve as a role model for thousands of young athletes, and that a spot on any national team is the highest goal and achievement. The objective is to guarantee in the future and long-term, a decent attitude from players towards practices and training periods, a decent attitude toward fellow team members, coaches and fans.

Power forward Kaspars Berzins was already kicked off the team before the 2009 European Championship in Poland and stayed home. All of the others above played, and Team Latvia's overall performance disappointed (13th place). Today, the Association deemed the team's play "unsatisfactory."