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No more China trips, vows Iverson
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FORMER NBA star Allen Iverson has vowed never to return to China, after claiming he was cheated by Chinese agents.
The former Philadelphia 76ers player, who has a large fan base in China, held a 12-day China tour last month. However, the tour was filled with chaos, including changes in schedule and fans’ complaints about Iverson not playing any matches himself but only taking on the coaching role.
Iverson’s agent Muhammed Abdur-Rahim talked to Asian basketball news website Basketball Buddha last weekend about their unpleasant experience with the tour’s Chinese agents, Li Dong of Tianjin Qidi Culture Co, Ltd and David Lee of Beijing Landmark Advertisement Co, Ltd. Li spoke to Xinhua News Agency this week. Both sides pointed a finger at the other.
According to Abdur-Rahim, the tour was initially scheduled for May 19-31. Iverson would visit a few cities in China and make his amateur coaching debut, leading a group of American players in exhibition games against local squads.
However, visa problems led to a delay. After Iverson’s team arrived in Shanghai from New York, they had to skip the first leg in Daqing City in Heilongjiang, and flew to the provincial capital Harbin instead for the second leg of the tour on May 20. The Daqing leg, previously scheduled for May 19, was delayed to June 1.
Li told Xinhua he transferred the US$3,000 visa application fee to Iverson’s team on May 12. They still didn’t manage to make the trip on time.
But, the major dispute was whether Iverson should play in the exhibition games. Abdur-Rahim revealed a part of the contract to the website, which said that Iverson “has no obligation to play any minutes in the events. Beijing Landmark and Qidi shall communicate to the public that Mr Iverson’s role in the tour is as head coach and not basketball player to prevent Mr Iverson’s fans from being misled or disappointed”.
However, that was not what the fans who bought tickets for the games had been told. Iverson didn’t step onto the court as a player in Harbin, which led to the cancellation of a game in Xi’an, though he showed up at promotional events to meet fans in the Shaanxi Province capital.
Li admitted to Xinhua that he knew Iverson was not going to play in the games according to the contract. However, he and partner Lee did not inform local organizers about it.
Abdur-Rahim said that after the cancellation of the Xi’an game, he received a text message from Li, saying they would give Iverson US$10,000 per minute to play in the next city. The offer was later raised to US$10,000 a minute, but a maximum of five minutes, so US$50,000 per game, which was also turned down.
Abdur-Rahim said Li eventually offered Iverson US$1.5 million for a combined 10 minutes of playing time for the remaining four games of the tour. Li claimed that “if Iverson doesn’t take the deal and play” David Lee would commit suicide because otherwise he would go to jail for misleading the public. Under the circumstances the deal was accepted, according to Abdur-Rahim.
The agent asked Li for US$1 million as deposit. Li sent him proof of a wire transfer on May 24, and Iverson played for two minutes in a game in Jinjiang, Fujian Province, on May 27. However, the money had not gone through by May 27 evening.
Abdur-Rahim said he called Lee, and was told that Lee was in Beijing selling his investment properties to come up with the US$1.5 million. The agent said Li and Lee later admitted to him that the transfer proof was fake, and that everything they did was to keep the tour going.
For his part, Li claimed that Iverson’s team also broke some terms of the contract, including contacting a local bar in Jinjiang to hold an activity for Iverson at a price of 62,000 yuan.
Lee could not be reached for comments on the matter.
Abdur-Rahim said despite Iverson’s love for his Chinese fans, he was not coming back to China again because of his bitter experience with Li and Lee.
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