The presidents of Basketball Australia and Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) have issued a joint apology for Monday’s batshit violent brawl.
Ned Coten and Alfredo S. Panlilio said they “deeply regret the events that took place during the game. The actions displayed have no place on any basketball court.”
We wish to apologise to the entire basketball community worldwide – and in particular to our fantastic fans in the Philippines and Australia – for the behaviour displayed by both teams and for bringing the game of basketball into disrepute.
We fully accept our responsibility and are collaborating in the ongoing proceedings to investigate the incidents.
We will do everything in our power to prevent this from happening again. Basketball has a unique power to unite and we look forward to continuing bringing people together in the true spirit of friendship and sportsmanship in future games.
The chaos begun when the SBP’s Roger Ray Pogoy threw an elbow at Aussie Chris Goulding.
In total, 13 players were ejected from the match.
Players from both teams are expected to be dealt hefty penalties after their involvement in the incident, including Boomers’ Daniel Kickert and Thon Maker.
Maker has since taken responsibility for his actions in a statement via his Twitter.
The 21-year-old wrote his actions “were a result of my desire to protect my teammates and myself.”
Per the ABC, SBP’s Troy Rike received a cash reward of 200,000 peso (AUD $5,000) after standing over Goulding when he was knocked to the ground, surrounded by enraged fans, officials, and players.
Rike will reportedly donate the reward to charities in the Philippines and Australia.
“I made the decision to take some of that money and do something good with it. I’m planning to split it and give 50,000 pesos ($1,200) to a Filipino charity and 50,000 pesos ($1,200) to an Australian charity as well.”
Just before I hear anything about this picture or my character. I was standing over him with both legs to protect him. You can check the footage, I’m actively pushing people off. https://t.co/69RiTfk98D
— Troy Rike (@troyrike) July 2, 2018
The International Basketball Federation is currently investigating the incident
