Maree coach steps away as bid to be reinstated in basketball cup fails

The Galway side had been kicked out of the competition and hit with a number of other sanctions after attempting to register players using falsified documents last month.

The National League Committee had also originally docked Maree 24 points and banned an unnamed individual from the team for two years – though the second year may be suspended.

The club had appealed the decision in the hope of making this season's cup but the National Appeals Committee upheld that particular sanction and merely reduced the points penalty to 18 instead of 24 last Wednesday.

The Spaniard travelled to Kerry to oversee his side's 107-75 league defeat to Tralee Warriors last Saturday, which turned out to be his final game in charge.

Maree had been drawn to play Warriors in the first round of the cup, but that fixture had reverted to a league game before tip-off and after Maree's failed appeal.

The Irish Independent has learned that he agreed to leave after that Tralee game by mutual consent and that a successor is yet to be appointed for Sunday's clash against Demons.

The 2023 cup champions sit in eighth place in the league table after three wins and three losses so far this season.