Basketball Australia ‘extremely disappointed,’ sorry for fight with Gilas
Basketball Australia, the governing body of basketball in Australia, expressed its disappointment over the brawl that transpired involving its men’s national team and Gilas Pilipinas in the Fiba World Cup Qualifiers at Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
The fight erupted at the 4:01 mark of third quarter that saw both benches cleared and had a total of 13 players ejected, nine of which were from Gilas.
“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,” Anthony Moore, chief executive of Basketball Australia, said in a statement released late Monday night.
“This is not the spirit in which sport should be played and certainly not in the spirit in which we aim to play basketball,” the statement read. “We apologise to our fans and will await the penalties to be handed down.”
The melee broke out with the Boomers in total control of the game, 79-48.
The game resumed after a thorough review with Gilas down to just three men in June Mar Fajardo, Gabe Norwood and Baser Amer while playing against five Aussies on the floor.
Fajardo and Norwood intentionally fouled out and with the Philippines having just one player left in Amer, the game was called off at the 1:57 mark of the third quarter with Australia taking an 89-53 victory.
In a tweet, Basketball Australia also said it got confirmation that members of the Boomers “are safe and well.”
