Dominican men’s basketball will exhaust its last cartridge in the complex goal of qualifying for the Olympics for the first time and will participate in a six-day tournament that requires an investment of NT$14.5-16.8 million.

New Zealand, which will compete in Group A in Belgrade alongside hosts and favorites Serbia, withdrew in February due to the high cost, and will be replaced by the Philippines.

Rafael Uribe, Fedombal President, $250,000-290,000 to bring the Dominican group to Balkan land, one of 26 people, including 15 players, four technicians, a doctor, a physiotherapist and delegates.

The group will start training next week, and must arrive on June 15 for a 10-day camp in Lithuania which will include empty matches with the local team on the 17th and 25th and another with Russia on the 23rd to travel to Serbia on the 26th and merge into a bubble.

Survival choices are to win the game. They will make their debut in the 29th against the Serbs and on the 1st of July they will face the Filipinos. A win will take them to the semi-finals with a Group B team made up of Puerto Rico, Senegal and Italy, with the winners competing for the final segment.

Tickets will be paid for by the Ministry of Sports and the rest of the resources will be managed through sponsorships with Banreservas, Nike and Herbalife.

“The choice is no longer a headache, there is administrative self-management where with this multi-year sponsorship we can make economic forecasts, payments (to players) that have been made, extraordinary payments, that is impossible, we are paying with other teams, Brazil, Argentina, Puerto Rico. Uribe said.

Puerto Plata goalkeeper Christopher Duarte, the serious candidate to be selected in the upcoming NBA draw, will not be in the playoffs, as he will be attending several camps on the date that coincides with the championship.

The core players Melvin Lopez will direct revolve around Victor Lez, Eloy Vargas, LG Figueroa, Rigoberto Mendoza, Gilves Solano, Jean Monteiro, Michael Torres, Sadeel Rojas, Antonio Peña, Juan Miguel Soiro and Adonis Henriquez.

Alhorford has not played for the national team since the pre-Olympic play-off in July 2012 and Karl-Anthony Towns did so for the last time at the 2013 World Cup in Venezuela.

Horford hasn’t played an NBA game since March 27 when the Oklahoma City Thunder decided not to risk him trying to trade him. At Fedombal they find it difficult to be in Serbia, but resort to diplomacy when approaching them.

“We always have the doors open and we’re always doing everything humanly possible to be able to get each of us on the field. I’ve spoken with Tito (Alfred Joel’s father), who is here, I’ve spoken with Al, but nothing yet, says Uribe. .

“These tournaments leading up to the Olympics with the pandemic, there are many things that are still in progress that are being resolved. We are still hopeful that they will be there, and we also know that it is very difficult because with this pandemic, there are many closed borders, and the returns Uncomfortable, the waiting in the stops is long, we only have two options to be able to travel, one via Madrid and the other via Germany, but the flight in Madrid, which is probably the most comfortable, we have to stay 15 hours at the airport so that we can catch the plane to go to Frankfurt, It’s not easy with this pandemic and more we are an island.We want to put together the best team, but we have a reality ahead of us,” Uribe explained.

Horford, who turned 35, has a contract for two more seasons in the NBA. For the 2021-2022 harvest, the team that acquires it must pay him $26.5 million, and for 2022-2023 there is $14.5 million from the agreement he signed with the Sixers for four seasons, which began in 2019.

The Puerto Plata striker/central wore the national team shirt between 2008 and 2012, but walked away annoyed by comments made by Jacques Michael Martinez, who had stipulated that he not attend the 2014 World Cup at Horford.