[ad_1]
USA, Kemba Walker, right, and Australian Matthew Dellavedova, left, compete for the ball during their exhibition basketball match in Melbourne, Thursday August 22, 2019. (AP Photo / Andy Brownbill)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – Everyone was apparently not happy, apparently, among the biggest crowd watching a basketball game in Australia.
Kemba Walker scored 23 points to lead the United States to Australia 102 to 86 on Thursday in front of 51,218 spectators at a stadium where cricket, football or Australian football rules usually take place.
The roof of Marvel Stadium was closed and a raised ground was placed in the middle of the field, surrounded by hundreds of white chairs, of a depth of more than 20 rows, intended for amateurs who paid for s & # 39; sit on the floor.
But some fans, including Hollywood actor Russell Crowe, have complained on social networks of views – or the lack of views – in some parts of the stadium. He stated that he was sitting at a seat costing 1,500 Australian dollars ($ 1,000), but that he could not see the players.
$ 1500 per ticket for this view. AUS v USA.
Jokes on me
If you are not among the 50,000 and you chose to watch TV at home, good decision. pic.twitter.com/VlNuXWp6iI– Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) August 22, 2019
"If you were not among the 50,000 people present and you chose to watch it on TV at home, good decision," Crowe said on Twitter. "The only thing that was done tonight … was to encourage promoters to rip off well-meaning sports fans. It was a joke. "
Australia and the United States will play a Saturday afternoon game in the same stadium.
On Friday, Australia's leading consumer agency said it was investigating whether basketball fans had misled basketball fans about the NBA's expected seats and players at the game.
Before the match, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it had already received hundreds of complaints from ticket holders who claimed to have been misled about the players involved and asking for refunds.
"We have now added to this survey whether consumers have been misled about the number and quality of seats," said Rod Sims, president of the ACCC.
"We take misleading behavior allegations very seriously and penalties for violating the Consumer Law are important. They were angry and wanted a refund.
"We can well understand that if something is announced with some elite players … if you do not have the key players that might well have a significant impact on whether you're still interested or not . "
Despite the crowd, the Australian media reported that refunds had been paid to some fans because they had bought promotional-based tickets describing Stephen Curry and LeBron James – who were part of the US group of players when the deal was been spent to play. Neither Curry nor James are on the list of US players for the World Cup.
Australia also did not have its biggest star, Ben Simmons, who chose not to participate in the World Cup. Nevertheless, the initial formation of the Boomers included four NBA players: Patty Mills, Aron Baynes, Joe Ingles and Matthew Dellavedova.
American coach Gregg Popovich, at least, found some humor in the raised courtyard, claiming he felt like he was on a movie set.
"I kept looking behind me because I knew I was going off the scene," he said.
[ad_2]
Source link