The Australian national basketball team were left “in fear for their physical safety” after an ugly brawl erupted during a World Cup qualifying game against the Philippines.
Basketball Australia CEO Anthony Moore has condemned the actions of both teams during the melee and apologised for the “black eye” it has left over the sport.
“When you have got an issue or an incident that spills into outside the playing surface, and you’ve got fans and officials assaulting players – that’s something that is really concerning us,” he said in an interview.
“We do apologise to our fans for that aspect… We are starting our own investigation alongside that of FIBA to work through that.
“But the issue last night was we had players and coaches in fear for their physical safety – that’s the knife edge that we were on last night. It was a pretty ugly and wild scene.”
The brawl quickly caught the attention of sports fans on social media, with some commenting that if people were involved in a similar incident on the street, they’d be arrested.
The brawl broke out during Australia’s 89-53 FIBA World Cup qualifying win over the Philippines in Bulacan overnight.
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 at the Philippine Arena.
The Boomers were cruising to victory with a 79-48 lead when Philippines guard Roger Pogoy suddenly lashed out at Chris Goulding with an errant elbow.
Teammate Daniel Kickert’s aggressive retaliation on Pogoy then sparked an all-in brawl that included punches, elbows, kicks and objects hurled at players.
After a delay of over 30 minutes following the brawl, the match officials assessed the melee with 13 players ejected – nine from the Philippines plus Boomers Goulding, Kickert, Thon Maker and Nathan Sobey.
The match was restarted despite the Philippines being left with only three players to take the court, with FIBA rules stating the game must continue unless a team only has a single player available.
But the home side began deliberately fouling the Australians until they were left with one player, bringing the farcical situation to an end with two minutes left in the third quarter.
“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,” the statement 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.”
Speaking further about the incident this morning, Mr Moore said the brawl comes as a “sword to the heart” of Australian basketball in light of so many recent successes.
“(With) Andrew Bogut back with the Sydney Kings, all of these players representing so brilliantly in the NBA, the game was on the up-and-up and then this black eye,” he said.
“It’s a massive setback for the sport. It’s certainly a black eye for us. It’s a bad day for us to actually be coming on and attempting to discuss this issue.
“That’s something that we will continue to work through with FIBA. We obviously await their report and their sanctions. That’s what we can do at this stage.”
Ultimately, Australia came away with a 89-53 victory in the game, putting them on top of Asian Zone Group B with five wins from six matches though both teams had already progressed to the second stage of qualification.
But the fallout from this shocking incident could have huge ramifications for both nations ahead of the next round of qualifiers with FIBA sure to hand out severe punishments.
