It seems FIBA World Cup can be just as dangerous as FIFA World Cup riots, at least to a certain degree. Recent events in the said basketball world tournament have resulted in a literal royal rumble between the players of the Australian and Philippines teams. The third quarter of the said match between the teams of the two countries resulted in a melee free for all which had some muddy origins.
Here is the video of the whole thing:
As you can see, the seemingly calm basketball game quickly descended into a fisticuff. A closer look showed that one of the players from the Philippines team appeared to have shoved an Australian player with his elbow. This, in turn, caused one of the assaulted Australian player’s teammate to retaliate against the Filipino aggressor.
Incidentally, a violent chain of events ensued and the court was quickly filled with players from both teams rushing to join the fray. Even some players who were benched had to join the brawl. The result was rather catastrophic, with the Australian players seemingly suffering the brunt of the physical incident.
One player from Australia named Chris Goulding can even be seen curling on the floor as several Filipino players ganged up on him. Luckily, the Chief Executive of the Australian team stated that their players suffered some bruises but were otherwise alright.
Despite the apparent provocation coming from the Filipino team, however, fans and viewers of the actual match have been tweeting that trouble was already brewing long before the brawl even began. Some even pointed fingers at the Australian team for name-calling and racist slurs against the Filipino team. Here are some of their tweets:
No judgement on our #Gilas players should be passed by people who were not in the situation. I feel they just defended each other. Australian team already disrespected our country when they ripped off decals on the court. #LabanPilipinas
— Chris Tan (@ChrisDTan) July 2, 2018
Trash talking is normal in basketball. But when you call the Philippine Team midgets and monkeys, you cross a dangerous line. Filipinos are very hospitable and respectful. The world knows that. #RespectBegetsRespect #GilasPilipinas #FIBAWC #FIBA
— Pepper Evanna (@pepperevanna) July 3, 2018
Kickert needs to be banned for a long time for that elbow, but since he’s Australian and they’ve been turned into the victims of an attack by “savages” he won’t.
Again, not defending what Gilas did and the way we reacted was bad, but people, be fair in analyzing what happened.
— JC (@JC_2594) July 2, 2018
Don’t hate gilas! They upheld Filipino values until the 3rd quarter while being taunted and being called monkeys by the other team! Abueva was even on bench to avoid fights! They held out for so long! ? #FIBAWC #GilasPilipinas
— jam | fxxk it (@strwberri_jam) July 3, 2018
You be the judge. We do hope that both teams recover from the repercussions of their actions.
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