Satou Sabally Leads War Against Cathy Engelbert and WNBA's Peculiar Policies Against European Stars

As the curtain falls on Paris Olympics, the players will once again get off from international duties and will be heading to league basketball. While the majority of hoopers will return to America to compete in WNBA, some European stars won’t have that opportunity due to the league’s new prioritization rule, introduced last year. However, certain players, like German star Satou Sabally, will not tolerate this rule, as they speak out against being forced to make a difficult choice.

While Satou Sabally will be heading back to the WNBA to play for the Dallas Wings, her future is also clouded by a rule change instituted by WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert last year, mandating players to prioritize the WNBA over international leagues. “As a player, I obviously criticized the prioritization rule that the WNBA implemented. I think it’s really bad to punish International players, especially players coming from France, they can’t come over at all anymore. That’s just unfair,” said Sabally during Olympics via USA Today.

The WNBA often boasts about being the top women’s basketball league globally, but that claim seems shaky when it excludes some of the world’s top talent by bringing policy that threatens to suspend, without pay, any player who decides to compete abroad as well. While the rules does have compensation for national team play, a lot of European players think it’s a bit unfair and inconsiderate to control their choice to play overseas.

It’s not just Sabally who’s unhappy with existing policy as Belgian star Emma Meesseman, a former forward for the Chicago Sky, also voiced her frustrations. “You make me choose between my home and going away. So I’m a European player, nothing is going to change that. So if you make me choose between my national team or only giving me a couple of weeks or days preparation, that’s never going to happen,” told Messeeman who feels unsupported by the current Engelbert’s policies.


https://www.essentiallysports.com/wnba-basketball-news-satou-sabally-leads-war-against-cathy-engelbert-and-wnbas-peculiar-policies-against-european-stars-emma-meesseman/