Australian basketball players feared for their safety after a World Cup qualifier in the Philippines descended into an extraordinary mass brawl, the sport’s domestic governing body has said.
The chief executive of Basketball Australia, Anthony Moore, faced the media on Tuesday to express his regret at Australia’s involvement in the “unacceptable” altercation that has prompted questions about security for travelling teams. The international governing body, Fiba, has opened an investigation.
Moore said players and coaches had stayed on the court after the match was called off as it was deemed the safest place for them to be in a “tinderbox” atmosphere in the arena in Bulacan.
“We deeply regret the incident that occurred last night and our role in it,” Moore said. “We don’t play the game in that spirit. While we accept our role in the incident, what we don’t accept is when fans and officials get involved.
“[Looking at the footage] one of our players, Nathan Sobey, is getting assaulted by a fan. Chris Goulding is under a pack of officials and players. You’ve also got a fan throwing a chair at one of our players. It’s unacceptable.”
Consular officials in attendance eventually helped the Australian team get off court and on to the team bus.
“We had our players and team management in fear of their physical safety,” Moore said. “Are we actually going to get out of here unscathed? There was a heightened sense of anxiety. It was a pretty distressed playing group last night.”
Those involved face disciplinary proceedings, with Fiba to assemble a tribunal and expected to act swiftly. The timeline for that process is not yet clear but Moore said Basketball Australia’s immediate priority was the welfare of the team and getting the players home safely.
“Physically, our players are fine,” he said. “They’re bruised and battered, but there are no breaks. But it’s the mental health of our players we are worried about.
“It’s a challenging one to defend as it was an unsavoury act. Our primary concern was for the welfare of our players.
“It was alarming. When you see a congregation of players at one end of the court and you ask is one of our players under there? It was alarming to see one our players surrounded by about 20 people.”
With Australia holding a comfortable lead, the match descended into violence after Roger Pogoy of the Philippines fouled Goulding and Daniel Kickert reacted with a raised forearm.
The clash quickly escalated and players from both teams got involved in a brawl. Punches were thrown and fans and officials were also caught up in the ugly melee.
Play 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 were reduced to three players but, in further bizarre scenes, play continued before two of those three deliberately fouled out and the match was called off.
“It was pretty odd,” Moore said. “To be on a position like that after a major altercation. I found that very strange, in a tinderbox environment to continue like that.”
The Philippines coach, Chot Reyes, said the brawl was “absolutely unacceptable” but alleged that an incident before play started had been the catalyst.
“Kickert was hitting our players during the warm-up,” he said. “The foul of Pogoy on Goulding was called a foul ... but he [Kickert] was the one who came in and he decked Pogoy for the fifth time.
“You can’t expect to do that to a team for five times and not expect [them] to retaliate.”
Moore “absolutely” refuted that claim but admitted it was “a pretty dark day yesterday”.
“We need to work incredibly hard to repair our image.”
Maker, who plays in the NBA for the Milwaukee Bucks, said he was “deeply disappointed” by the brawl, but that he had acted to protect his teammates.
“Being from a war-torn country, basketball for me has always been a means to bring people together,” he said on Twitter. Maker’s family came to Perth as refugees from the Sudanese civil war when he was five.
“I feel a great responsibility as an NBA player to carry myself in a way that promotes peace and unity. My hope is that this experience provides a springboard for discussion regarding security surrounding these games.
“I take responsibility for my actions knowing that they were a result of my desire to protect my teammates and myself. It is a tremendous honour to represent Australia, the Milwaukee Bucks and the NBA and my goal is to reflect that in my conduct and play.”
