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Argentina Forfeits Pan American Basketball Game for Wearing Wrong Jersey
August 8, 2019
The Argentinian women's basketball team lost its chance to advance to the Pan American Games semifinals when it forfeited a matchup against Colombia for wearing the wrong jerseys.
Per ESPN.com, "the Argentines were supposed to wear white jerseys as the away team but came onto the court in Lima in blue, the same color as Colombia. They had 15 minutes to correct the mistake but couldn't get the right shirts in time, leading to Colombia being awarded a walkover 20-0 victory."
Women's basketball development director Karina Rodriguez and Argentina team coordinator Hernan Amaya resigned from their posts following the forfeit, with Amaya taking "full responsibility."
The result is a significant disappointment on its own, but Argentina had just come off an excellent showing against the United States in its first preliminary round game. Despite the 70-62 loss, Argentina led by one at halftime and trailed by just four heading into the final quarter. The USA is one of just two remaining undefeated teams at the Pan American Games alongside Brazil.
That effort gave Argentina some momentum heading into its matchup against Colombia, which could have been a de-facto play-in game for a semifinal spot to get out of the group. However, the forfeit loss erased its advancement chances.
Argentina beat the U.S. Virgin Islands 73-59 in its final preliminary round matchup and will play the fifth-place game against a to-be-determined opponent on Friday.
