Visa Complications Sideline Sotto

Adelaide 36ers star Kai Sotto will miss Sunday's game against the New Zealand Breakers due to Visa complications.

In a statement on the 36ers' website, the club said it had "exhausted all options to get approval for him to travel into New Zealand".

Sotto flew back to Adelaide from Melbourne on Friday, while the rest of the squad made its way to Auckland. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Kai Sotto x Scottie Thompson connection working some magic early on for Gilas Pilipinas ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FIBAWC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FIBAWC</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WinForPilipinas?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WinForPilipinas</a> ?? <a href="https://t.co/LQcSzOVkdk">pic.twitter.com/LQcSzOVkdk</a></p>&mdash; FIBA Basketball World Cup (@FIBAWC) <a href="https://twitter.com/FIBAWC/status/1591825690189365248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 13, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

According to Stuff, "per the New Zealand Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade, Philippine nationals require a visa to enter New Zealand, which allows them to stay in the country for nine months".

Sunday's match was set to be Sotto's first in New Zealand, after Covid-19 restrictions meant no games were played in the country last season.