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Australian basketball players feared for their safety after a qualifying match for the Philippines World Cup fell into an extraordinary mbad brawl, said the national governing body of the sport.
Basketball Australia General Manager Anthony Moore clashed Tuesday with the media expressing his regret over Australia's "unacceptable involvement in the incident" which prompted questions about the safety of film crews. The international governing body, Fiba, has opened an investigation.
Moore stated that the players and coaches remained on the field after the match because it was considered the safest place for them to end up in a tinder atmosphere. in Bulacan.
"We deeply regret the incident last night and our role," Moore said. "We do not play the game in this spirit.While we accept our role in the incident, what we do not accept is when the fans and the officials involved."
"[Looking at the footage] One of our players, Nathan Sobey, is being badaulted by a fan. Chris Goulding is under a squad of officials and players. You also have a fan who throws a chair at one of our players. This is unacceptable.
The consular officials present finally helped the Australian team to leave the field and take the bus from the team.
"We were afraid of the physical safety of our players and our teams. "Are we coming out unscathed from here?" There was an increased sense of anxiety. "It was a pretty anxious gaming group last night."
The people involved make face disciplinary proceedings, with Fiba to bademble a court and should act quickly. The timing of this process is not yet clear, but Moore said the immediate priority of Basketball Australia was the well-being of the team and the safety of the players.
"Physically, our players are doing well," he said. "They are bruised and beaten, but there are no breaks, but it's the mental health of our players that worries us."
"It's a tough challenge to defend because it was an unsavory act. Our main concern was the well-being of our players.
"It was alarming.When you see a congregation of players at one end of the field and you ask, is any of our players there?" It was alarming to see one of our players surrounded by about twenty people. "
With a comfortable lead from Australia, the match became violent after Roger Pogoy of the Philippines attacked Goulding and Daniel Kickert reacted with a raised forearm. The incident escalated rapidly and players from both teams were involved in a fight. Punching was fired and fans and officials were caught in the fray.
The game was suspended for more than half an hour before 13 players were ejected – nine from the Philippines and four Australians: Goulding, Kickert, Thon Maker and Sobey
The Philippines was reduced to three players but, in even more bizarre scenes, the game went on before two of these three were deliberately fouled and the game canceled.
"It was quite strange," Moore said. "Being in a position like this after a major altercation, I found it very strange, in a bricklayer environment to continue like this."
Philippine coach, Chot Reyes, has stated that the fight was "absolutely unacceptable" but that an incident before the start of the match was the catalyst.
"Kickert was hitting our players during the warm-up," he said. "Pogoy's fault on Goulding was called a foul … but he [Kickert] was the one who came in and he parried Pogoy for the fifth time.
" You can not expect to do that at a team for
Moore "refuted" this badertion but admitted that it was "a rather dark day yesterday".
"We have to work incredibly hard to repair our image."
Maker, who plays in the NBA for the Milwaukee Bucks, said he was "deeply disappointed" in the fight but that he acted to protect his teammates.
"Being from a war-torn country, basketball has always been a way of bringing people together" he said on Twitter . Maker's family came to Perth as refugees from the Sudanese civil war when he was five years old.
"I feel a great responsibility as an NBA player to lead me in a way that promotes peace and unity, and my hope is that this experience provides a springboard for the discussion of the issue. security surrounding these games.
"I take responsibility for my actions knowing that they were the result of my desire to protect my teammates and myself. It's a huge honor to represent Australia, the Milwaukee Bucks and the NBA and my goal is to reflect that in my conduct and in my game. "
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