Selfie after disgraceful basketball brawl made things even worse

THIS looks like an ordinary selfie taken by a guy and a bunch of his smiling mates — but when you see the context there’s something very wrong with it.

THE extraordinary all-in brawl between Australia and the Philippines in their FIBA World Cup qualifier was disgusting to say the least — but one act after the fist fight calmed down added another ugly footnote to the episode.

After fists, elbows, knees and even chairs were thrown by players from both camps, FIBA officials took more than half an hour to deliberate over whether the match should continue.

Read: Australia reacts to ‘sickening disgrace’

The sickening scenes that erupted with just over four minutes remaining in the third quarter led everyone who witnessed the fight to conclude that surely the match would be abandoned. But to fans’ and commentators’ amazement, the show went on.

However, before play resumed, some members of the Philippines team clearly wanted to create some memories about being part of one of the darkest chapters in basketball history.

Rather than reflect on how they could possibly be caught up in the disturbing outburst, they decided to smile, say “cheese” and take a selfie on the court.

Unsurprisingly, the tasteless moment was slammed on social media, with Aussie basketball icon Andrew Bogut taking to Twitter with the sarcastic response of: “Class.”

This just happened. After one of the wildest on-court brawls in recent memory, the Philippines team pauses to pose for a selfie, like there’s something to celebrate pic.twitter.com/fTXAaBA5lp

— Mitchell Scott (@WhippingBoySEN) July 2, 2018

Class https://t.co/GaNYwSJFzF

— Andrew Bogut (@andrewbogut) July 2, 2018

Some absolute garbage coming out of the Philippines after the brawl. No way you can justify the behaviour of their players and officials. It was disgraceful. You should be kicked out of the #FIBAWC rounds. And how about that selfie????? Shocking https://t.co/KD1pSc5trB

— Greg Davis (@GregDavis_cmail) July 2, 2018

The generation that we live in: you get your ass kicked by 31 in a #FIBA basketball game that ends in the third quarter because your entire team got ejected for fighting. And you pause afterward to take a selfie? pic.twitter.com/XJkDK6WgXc

— Jerry Bembry (@Jerrybembry) July 2, 2018

Digesting the Boomers madness. Plenty you can’t excuse: The initial cheap shot, Kickert’s extreme response, the home arena pack mentality in the brawl, the selfie, the fact the game continued. FIBA response must be firm

— Chris Robinson (@CJKRobinson) July 2, 2018

Neither side was blameless in the incident that was described by Fox Sports commentator Matt Russell as “deplorable and abhorrent”. Channel 9 sports presenter Tim Gilbert was on the money when he said on The Today Show the scenes resembled a riot rather than anything you’d expect to see at a basketball game.

Tensions exploded after Boomers guard Chris Goulding was fouled and shoved to the floor. Aussie Daniel Kickert retaliated immediately, elbowing an opposition player in the face.

Chaos ensued as the Filipino side raced into the melee. They came from everywhere as the benches cleared and all hell broke loose.

At one point several Filipinos could be seen piling on top of an Aussie star, throwing punches while he lay helpless on the ground. A chair was also thrown at an Australian player’s head.

If it wasn’t already, the match became a farce as 13 players — including nine Filipinos — were ejected. The game restarted with five Boomers taking on a three-man opposition before those players intentionally fouled out, gifting Australia an 89-53 win in Bulacan.

The sickening scenes shocked the world.

Basketball Australia’s chief executive Anthony Moore spoke to the media on Tuesday in which he criticised the Filipinos for taking the selfie.

“I thought it was very odd to be in a major altercation and to seem to be enjoying the moment,” he said. “I found it very strange.”

Moore also said it was distressing to see fans and officials get involved in the brawl, while the sight of Goulding underneath a string of bodies was especially confronting.

“What we don’t accept is the action where fans and officials actually get involved in the fight,” Moore said. “One of our players being assaulted by a fan and we’ve got Chris Goulding under a pack of players and officials on the court.

“We’ve also got a fan throwing a chair at one of our players. We find that absolutely unacceptable.

“It was alarming, it was absolutely alarming when you see a congregation of players at the end of the court and you say, ‘Is one of our players actually under there?’ It’s absolutely alarming.”

All eyes will now turn to FIBA who will assess the fight with the likely outcome of suspensions or other disciplinary actions to players from both countries.

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Originally published as Selfie after disgraceful basketball brawl made things even worse