A wild brawl has seen Australia’s FIBA World Cup qualifying clash with the Philippines in Bulacan abandoned early, after no fewer than 13 players were ejected from the match. Tensions boiled over with four minutes remaining in the third quarter, with players and officials from both sides, plus a number of unruly fans, flooding the court in disgraceful scenes of violence. Watch the video here:
courtesy: ESPN
The Boomers were cruising to victory with a 79-48 lead before the match descended into farce after Philippines guard Roger Ray Pogoy lashed out at Australia’s Chris Goulding with an errant elbow. Boomer Daniel Kickert’s retaliation on Pogoy sparked an all-in brawl which Fox Sports commentator Matt Russell described as “sickening”, and which included punches, elbows, kicks and objects — including a chair — hurled at players.
see also: Aaron Finch Breaks own Record and set Highest Ever T20 Score
Basketball Australia chief executive Anthony Moore issued a short statement after the match. “Basketball Australia deeply regrets the incident in tonight’s match between the Boomers and the Philippines in Manila. We are extremely disappointed with what happened and our role in it,” Moore said.
“This is not the spirit in which sport should be played and certainly not in the spirit in which we aim to play basketball. We apologise to our fans and will await the penalties to be handed down.”
This morning Moore said the focus for management after the brawl was to ensure the players returned to the hotel from the stadium safely. “Player safety was paramount last night and after the incident, until the time that we actually departed the stadium,” he told News Breakfast.
Post Your Comments