By Aris Barkas/ barkas@Eurohoops.net
Back on the 3rd of September of 2017, a strange tweet turned heads around basketball media in Europe. Brian Wanamaker was detained in Poland. The brother of then EuroLeague star Brad Wanamaker, who was playing for Fenerbahce at the time, was on his way back to Lithuania for a second season in the country, after playing for Silute during the 2016-17.
The situation was resolved, Brian Wanamaker played last season for BC Vytis and together with his teammates, he earned the promotion right for the top LKL division. Vytis, a team playing in an 800 seat gym, ultimately remained in the second division, since they were not able to secure a bigger arena. And this is not a surprise, considering what has happened with Wanamaker. As a result of the club’s naivety or their indifference towards him, Wanamaker is banned from the Schengen Area until a court decides his fate.
How did this happen? Brian Wanamaker shared his story with Eurohoops with the following letter.
“April 2017
A teammate and I were traveling back home to the states after the Season ended. We were stopped at the Vilnius airport and was told that we overstayed our visa. It wasn’t our first time playing in the EU so we were surprised. We thought the team handled the visa. We explained the situation and they let us go with just a warning. But that was just the start.
September 1st, 2017
I was headed back to Lithuania to play for BC Vytis. During my connecting flight, I was stopped in Warsaw, Poland. They detained me. I had no idea why and no one would talk to me. They pretended they didn’t understand English. Two days, no food, no water. Luckily a cellmate had a phone charger and I was able to call the US Embassy and a member of the club. They worked together and got me released. I was told that I was restricted from the Schengen Area.
At that time my brother was playing in Turkey, a country not part of the Schengen Area. I traveled there because it was closer to Lithuania than the US. I met with the US Consulate in Turkey and wrote letters to the Director of the Migration Department to get the ban lifted. Also, I had a lawyer, all thanks to BC Vytis who helped every step of the way getting this situation resolved. I did have to pay for the lawyer they got for me out of each months salary, which I didn’t mind. I just wanted to play basketball. After 18 days I was finally able to travel and join the team.
September 19th, 2017
I arrived in Lithuania and a member of the club picked me up from the airport. First thing I said was let’s go straight to get my visa. I was told, “we have time don’t worry.” I asked a number of times about my visa within those first few weeks and was told everything is okay now. After some time I was told after a practice that I had an appointment to get my visa the next morning. I was surprised because they already told me everything was okay. We went and again I was told I’ve overstayed. The club insisted that I could stay the remaining of the season and that overstaying 100 days is the same as overstaying one day. They said if any problems happened they would take care of it. I stayed and we did have a successful season, a 40-4 record and an invite to play in the local top league.
Today
Before I left for home in April 2018 I only had to sign a few documents. I thought it was all okay. During this summer I was told that I was banned again. This time I had to go to court. I had a lawyer from Lithuania to represent me. The court date was set for October 16th, 2018. Already missing two months of this season. The date came and they moved it to November 20th. I was sure that it’s no way I can lose this case. It was just a misunderstanding between me and the club about getting the visa. I did no wrong. I just came to play basketball. But the club said it was all my fault and that they have no responsibility. I was shocked and felt betrayed. They’re saying words against mine. To make matters worse they still have yet to pay the rest of my salary. On November 22nd the court decided to ban me until 2020. No way to play in any country in the Schengen Area. They took the game away from me. I just want everyone to hear my story. They took the game away from me.
Brian Wanamaker”
The Schengen Area includes all the European countries that have signed the Schengen treaty for free movement of their citizens. In total, 26 countries have signed it, including all European Union countries with the exception of Ireland and the United Kingdom, plus Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, and Romania. The only two major European basketball countries in which Brian Wanamaker can find employment are Turkey and Serbia, while he can’t travel to all major European countries if, for example, he finds a team that takes part in European continental competition.
Practically Brian Wanamaker is banned from Europe due to a bureaucratic blunder and his disappointment towards BC Vytis is obvious: “It was simply that they don’t care. I’ve been professional and never did anything wrong. I sacrificed to help them win the league and they turned their back on me“.
It has to be noted that if you are playing in the Lithuanian second division, it’s more about the love of the game and the chance to prove yourself in order to get noticed by the better teams of the country and not for money. You can easily understand the frustration that comes if you are banned from Europe as a result for this choice.
“I asked my lawyer if I could sue. But the court said I’m responsible because there was nothing in the contract that said they had to get my visa and the team denied any responsibility… the team was not going to be in any trouble. All they had to do was tell the truth that it was a misunderstanding and none of this would have happened“.