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BASKET-AUS-PHI-BRAWL-APOLOGY
Aussies and Filipinos ‘sorry’ for #basketbrawl in Manila
MANILA, July 5, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Australia and the Philippines apologised
Thursday for bringing basketball into “disrepute” with a massive on-court
melee between players, fans and officials during a World Cup qualifier.
The violence on Monday in Manila, which made international headlines, left
the Australian team fearing for their safety, and they sought embassy help to
fast-track their departure from the Philippines.
“We wish to apologize to the entire basketball community worldwide — and
in particular to our fantastic fans,” said the joint statement from the
nations’ basketball associations.
The apology in particular cited “the behavior displayed by both teams and
for bringing the game of basketball into disrepute.”
Tempers were still hot on Wednesday when the Australian team arrived home
after the bench-clearing fight that resulted in 13 players being ejected and
which was hashtagged #basketbrawl.
“I’ve never seen anything like that, not even on YouTube. I do believe that
their coach Chot Reyes incited them to come out and thug us,” Boomers
assistant coach Luc Longley told reporters after landing in Brisbane.
Longley, who won three NBA championships alongside Michael Jordan with the
Chicago Bulls, pointed to footage of an angry Reyes during a time-out telling
his players to “hit somebody”.
What was already a bad-tempered game erupted into violence in the third
quarter when Philippine player Roger Pogoy knocked Australia’s Chris Goulding
to the ground and Daniel Kickert retaliated by flattening Pogoy with a flying
elbow.
Basketball’s governing body FIBA has opened disciplinary proceedings
against both teams after the melee, where players and officials kicked and
pounded a prone Australian player and both sides exchanged flying kicks and
punches.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1155 hrs