- Basketball Australia chiefs tried to ban players with ‘free’ braids from playing
- Decision was branded racist for targeting black people with the blanket ban
- Rule enforcing the ban has actually been scrapped by world basketball bosses
- Basketball Australia later backtracked and dropped it, but US star raged online
An American hoops star has lashed out at Basketball Australia for ‘clear racial discrimination’ after she was threatened with a ban over her braided hair.
Melbourne Boomers’ US import Tiffany Mitchell, 27, was told she’d never play in the WNBA until she put her long braids into a bun to stop them flicking into rivals’ faces.
But the rule Basketball Australia cited has been axed by the sport’s international body – and should have gotten the chop in Australia too.
