MANILA – In the coming days FIBA will decide on the brawl between Gilas Pilipinas and Australia Boomers players that marred their 2019 World Cup Asian Qualifiers match on Monday.
Basketball’s world governing body is looking into the incident and bent on exacting accountability.
“Following the incident that occurred in the third quarter of the Philippines-Australia game, FIBA will now open disciplinary proceedings against both teams. The decision(s) will be communicated in the coming days,” the federation said in a statement.
Philippine and Australian players were in bench-clearing fisticuffs after Boomers’ Daniel Kickert knocked Gilas Pilipinas’ Roger Pogoy down when the latter shoved opponent Christopher Goulding to the ground.
The Philippines is open to FIBA proceedings but hopes any decision will not affect its hosting of the basketball World Cup in 2023, said Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Al Panlilio.
“There are consequences we have to face, whatever FIBA decides on, but I hope this does not affect the hosting on 2023,” Panlilio said. “We are planning to write ahead of any decision made by FIBA to explain what really happened.”
“It was very arrogant for the Australia players to do that. Disrespectful, actually, for us. We were compliant with FIBA rules. It started from there,” he said, referring to the trash talk and cheap shots from Aussie players.
The Aussies are ready to face the consequences, Basketball Australia’s Anthony Moore said in statement on Monday evening.
“Basketball Australia deeply regrets the incident in tonight’s match between the Boomers and the Philippines in Manila,” Moore said. “We are extremely disappointed with what happened and our role in it.”
He added: “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.”
The brawl at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan started at the 4:01 mark of the third quarter. At the time Australia was ahead 79-48.
After Kickert landed a forceful forearm blow to the head of Pogoy, the Philippines’ Jayson Castro and Andray Blatche attacked the former. The brawl escalated, with players from the bench joining the melee.
Nine players from Gilas and four from Boomers were ejected as a result, and the game resumed – after an interruption that lasted more than an hour – with only three Filipino players and five Australians facing off.
Gilas’ June Mar Fajardo and Gabe Norwood fouled out, and the game ended in favor of Australia 53-89./PN
