THE Ballarat Miners will seek an explanation from Basketball Australia as to how a player under an active doping investigation in another country was given clearance to play for the club.
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Import Jalon Miller has been given a two-year ban after being sanctioned by the German National Anti-Doping Agency for an alleged violation while playing in Europe earlier this year.
The Miners say they have been left blindsided by the sanction, unaware that there was even an investigation into the player until they received an email late on Friday night.
Basketball Ballarat chief executive Neville Ivey said he would contact Basketball Australia this week to find out how the club was left unaware of the situation.
"It seems like there is a period of time that is quite lengthy between whatever was tested and the determination," he said.
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"Not just our club, any club, you go through all the processes and procedures and then you find out deep into the season that one of your players, some months ago, was being investigated.
"It feels like the process is flawed in some way. Where that breakdown has occurred I don't know, but I will be certainly asking the league."
Ivey said the club had absolutely no knowledge of any investigation ongoing.
"That's where the frustration is, surely there's someone who can provide a club a red flag or something," he said.
"It's something you should do before you provide registrations, then it would be up to the individual club to make the determination about which direction you take and whether you risk something like this or not."
For his part, Miller was also shocked at the sanction after receiving an email written in German. He has now returned to the United States and it is unclear whether he will seek an appeal.
"He was completely shocked by it, he went through the seven stages of grief in the 30 minute conversation we had," Ivey said. "It's a player welfare issue as well, he's 26, he's obviously thinking about his family and his own future in the sport."
Basketball Australia said it also been kept in the dark regarding the investigation.
"We were advised on Thursday night by the German Anti-Doping Agency of the sanction and we removed him from NBL1 ahead of the weekend's games accordingly," a Basketball Australia spokesperson said.
"We had no knowledge of this sanction prior to Thursday night."
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