Boomers look to lawyers as basketbrawl penalties loom

Basketball Australia will consider legal action over the violence that erupted in the match against The Philippines.

Australia’s Nathan Sobey takes one to the face during the battle of Bulacan. Picture: Getty Images

Basketball Australia will consider legal action over the violence that erupted in the World Cup qualification match against The Philippines if insufficient penalties are given to officials and spectators who became involved in the brawl.

Two Australian players, Chris Goulding and Nathan Sobey, were the victims of vicious attacks from Filipino players, officials and fans in a series of ugly incidents that may be heading to the courts once the International Basketball Federation’s punishments are handed down.

Nine Philippines players and four Australians were ejected from the match in Bulacan in The Philippines before it was abandoned in the third quarter because the hosts had only one player left.

The Boomers won 89-53. They were ordered to stay on the court because it was the safest place for them after fists, feet and chairs had been used as weapons in a minute or so of absolute mayhem.

“While we accept our responsibility for our role in last night’s incident, what we don’t accept is the action whereby fans and officials actually get involved in the fray,” Basketball Australia chief executive ­Anthony Moore said.

Boomer Daniel Kickert gets physical. Picture: Getty Images

“One of our players, Nathan Sobey, has been assaulted by a fan. We’ve got Chris Goulding, under a pack of players and officials, prone on the court. We’ve got a fan throwing a chair at one of our players. We absolutely find that unacceptable and while we’ll be waiting for FIBA to provide us with their findings and sanctions, that’s certainly an issue we will be addressing.”

The role of non-players in the melee could become a legal matter. “It’s premature at this stage,” Moore said. “We want to work with FIBA and the tribunal and get that outcome, and then we’ll assess our options from there. We have briefed our lawyers, as you would expect us to do as a national federation on an issue like this.

“We had our players, our managers and our coaches in fear of their physical safety. That’s a fairly compelling set of circumstances — are we actually going to get out of here unscathed? It was a pretty distressed playing group last night.”

The sides clash on court. Picture: Getty Images

Moore said it was “very strange” that Philippines players took selfies on the court after the ugliest incident in sport this year.

Australia’s Daniel Kickert was certain to be punished by FIBA for the elbow to a Philippines player.

The host ­nation’s coach, Chot Reyes, blamed Kickert for the brawl. “I understand the disappointment. I understand that some are embarrassed. But you don’t know what happened. You have to be in the team, you have to be in our circle to really understand what went down,” he said.

“The brawl is absolutely unacceptable but the reality is Kickert was hitting our players during the warm-ups. He hit Carl Bryan Cruz, he hit Matthew Wright, he hit (Roger) Pogoy and he hit Calvin Abueva during the warm-ups. The foul of Pogoy on Goulding was called an offensive foul, it was a basketball play, but he was the one that came in and decked Pogoy for the fifth time. You cannot expect to do that to a team five times and not expect there to be retaliation. That’s what happened and unfortunately that’s what has triggered the entire brawl.”

Moore denied the claim.