Liz Cambage has been dropped from the Opals Olympic qualifiers after attending a music festival instead of a training camp.

The 23-year-old Opals star created history at the London Olympics in 2012 when she became the first woman ever to slam dunk at the games.

But Basketball Australia have ruled her out of the Opals’ Rio Olympic qualifying series after she chose to attend music festival Splendour In The Grass rather than the first day of training camp.

(For those confused, this means that Cambage could still play at the Rio Olympics).

Liz Cambage (via twitter/Basketball Australia)

The 203cm centre, who is a fixture of the Melbourne social scene has signed a reputed $1m-plus deal to play in China next season and has lucrative sponsorship deals with Nike and Swisse.

The 16-woman Opals squad, who are currently in training for a three-game series against Japan, were told Cambage had decided to attend the festival this weekend and come into camp on Monday. Basketball Australia issued a short media statement saying  as a consequence the 203cm centre would be unavailable for selection for the upcoming Olympic qualifiers,  

Cambage’s teammate Rachel Jarry told Fairfax:

Australian basketball great and team mate Lauren Jackson told the ABC it goes against the Opals’ long-standing culture.

Cambage, who has spent the last 10 months recovering from a ruptured achilles, told the Herald Sun she was trying to work through things with the governing body, and that she will consider legal action if Basketball Australia did not overturn the decision.

Coach Brendan Joyce said the call to cut her from the 16-strong squad was “pretty easy”.

“We haven’t been emotional about it – it’s a decision that had to be made, not only for Liz but for the team,” Joyce said.

“Liz has been fully abreast of her responsibilities and what’s required, not only from the cultural point of view but also the medical side of it.”

Harsh or fair?