TWO Australian players involved in the Philippines-Australia basketball brawl that took place last July 2 are considering legal actions.
Australian Boomers Chris Goulding and Nathan Sobey expressed dissatisfaction over the sanctions handed down by FIBA, the world governing body in basketball.
Goulding’s manager Daniel Moldovan said on Twitter that the one game ban handed to Goulding was “disturbing and shocking” and that he would be seeking legal counsel.
He believes that “the decision to suspend and fine Goulding is perplexing given he was set upon by multiple Philippine players and staff and bashed and kicked while he lay motionless on the ground.”
The Melbourne United star guard was among those sanctioned and fined for unsportsmanlike behavior.
He pointed to assistant coach Jong Uichico as among those who left the bench and assaulted a motionless Goulding.
Uichico was eventually slapped a three-game suspension, which Moldavan called “ridiculous.”
“In my opinion, he is guilty of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm that could have easily resulted in the death of Chris has been given a farcical three-game suspension,” said Moldavan in a statement, adding that Uichico should not be allowed to coach in a FIBA-sanctioned game again.
On the other hand, Sobey was not sanctioned, but he was punched and was hit by a chair during the incident.
Sobey’s representative, Mogul Sports Group, identified Gilas Pilipinas player Jio Jalalon as the one who punched him, and Peter Aguilar, the father of Japeth, as the one who threw the chair at him.
“Video evidence captured demonstrates the severity of the assaults and the potential risk of serious, and life-altering injuries to Nathan,” the statement read.
“The assaults caused not only great distress to Nathan but also his family. The three-game and five-game suspensions that were handed down to those responsible for the cowardly assaults on Nathan are condemned to the highest possible degree,” added Sobey’s camp in their statement.
Basketball officials in the country are set to pay the federation’s biggest fine after the FIBA Disciplinary Panel suspended 13 players and 2 coaches from the Gilas Pilipinas and the Australian Boomers, and sacked the three referees as well.
Fines totaling CHF 260,000 (Swiss francs) or P13.916 million have been imposed on the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and its two coaches after a fight broke out midway through the third quarter of the Philippines-Australia encounter of their FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.