Five members of China team suspended for basketball brawl
The Chinese Basketball Association laid down numerous suspensions on Friday 15 October to members of China’s national basketball team after an ugly brawl between the Chinese team and the
Brazil team Tuesday 12 October during a friendly game in Xuchang, China.
The brawl left the game unfinished and resulted in one Chinese player leaving the arena in a neck brace.
Bob Donewald Jr., the American-born coach of the China team, was suspended indefinitely, fined $7,500, and given a formal demerit. Similar punishments were given to team manager Zhang
Xiong, as well as three players, Ding Jinhui, Su Wei, and Zhu Fangyu.
“The consequences of this event and the incident is severe,” Donewald said. “Not only was it against the spirit of competition, our actions were also not worthy of the adulation of our
fans and the well wishes of the entire country.”
“We have brought shame and disappointment to this team, to our fans and to this nation. So on behalf of the national team, I offer our sincere apologies to everyone who supports and cares
about us.”
On Tuesday night, Donewald was ejected in the opening minutes for arguing a foul call. His ejection seemed to spark the brawl with both teams beginning to throw kicks and punches. After
the two teams were separated by officials, members of the Chinese team attacked the Brazilians on their way to the locker room. The Brazilians refused to finish the game and both teams flew back to Beijing from Xuchang.
The incident, which has been prevalent on the Internet and television, has been a serious embarrassment to China’s sporting image. China will host the Asian Games next month in the southern
city of Guangzhou.
One day after the brawl, the association said team preparations for the Asian Games have been put on hold so that players can have some time to “deeply reflect.” All players have been
ordered to attend group lessons on sportsmanship.
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