NEWCASTLE Eagles recapture of Charles Smith has sparked claims that anarchy will soon reign in the British Basketball League.

The American quit the Scottish Rocks just one game into the domestic campaign, citing the need to spend more time with his family who remained in the North-East after he moved north of the border last summer.

After three months on the sidelines, he rejoined the Eagles this week and immediately set about proving his worth, scoring 48 points in his first two games.

The switch has caused ruptions between the two BBL franchises and has led to intense criticism of the English Basketball Arbitration Panel which ruled on the matter.

"We regret the fact that Newcastle Eagles took the commercial decision to employ Charles Smith," a Rocks statement said.

"Of more critical importance, is the role of the England Basketball Arbitration process.

"At the player's request the Rocks agreed to go to arbitration on the basis that we were confident that there was no dubiety about the facts.

"England Basketball's Arbitration panel agreed that the player had broken his contract with the Rocks. They then went on to say that there was no evidence to support the contention that his departure had affected the team performance.

"This despite the fact that he walked out on the Rocks 72 hours prior to a BBL Cup match, we were eliminated from that competition, and we have continued to search for a replacement for over three months.

"The core of our complaint with the Panel's decision is one which should be of concern to every club in the BBL. The precedent has been set for any player to walk out on any team, break a contract and suffer no penalty whatsoever. This paves the way towards anarchy."

The Rocks have formally requested that England Basketball reviews the case and their arbitration procedures.

"We believe their decision to be wrong and unfair and that is also the opinion of other BBL directors," the statement said.

"We agree with the Newcastle statement that the manner of Charles Smith's departure from the Rocks cannot be condoned, unfortunately the Arbitration panel have done just that.

"At this time we cannot envisage the circumstances in which the Rocks will ever again submit to the Arbitration process and we believe this to be the position of the majority of BBL clubs."