Attack on players and racist insults: like a basketball game in Belgrade turned into a huge scandal

The fifth, final match of the final series of the Adriatic Basketball League (ABA) ended in Belgrade on the eve, in which the local Red Star and Buducnost from Podgorica met. The hosts defeated the guests with a score of 97:54 and secured not only the victory in the tournament, but also a ticket to the Euroleague for the next season. However, the game was remembered not by the bright game of the Serbs, but by the scandal caused by the behavior of local fans.

The ABA League, also called the Adriatic League, includes 12 top teams from Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and Macedonia. Every year, teams hold a regular season, according to the results of which four participants in the playoffs are determined. In the first round, the fight goes to two victories, and in the final - to three.

This year in the main series of the tournament there was a fundamental confrontation between the teams from Serbia and Montenegro.

Passions began to boil already in the pre-match warm-up, when fans of the Serbian team reached the floor and attacked the players of the opponent. Two American Legionnaires of Buduchnost, Earl Clarke and Norris Cole, as well as Bosnian Nemania Gordic were attacked. Fans threw basketball players with chairs and other objects at hand. Fearing for their lives, the guests hurriedly left the area and returned to the locker room.

“When our players were ready to enter the site, total hysteria began in the arena, (fans - RT ) began to rush with handy objects: coins, telephone batteries, stones, bottles, brooms, lighters, chairs. About 40 fans came to the floor and approached the Buduchnosti bench. They spat and attack athletes. Gordic was hit with a chair, ”- said in a statement on the official website of the Montenegrin club.

After 20 minutes, the guests returned to the site and the match began, but the struggle in it did not work. In the debut of the team looked pretty smooth, but since the second quarter the advantage of “Red Star” began to grow rapidly. The favorite won it with a difference of 21 points and practically deprived the opponent of chances for success. In the second half, the wards of Milan Tomich only strengthened the leadership and took over the demoralized opponents, winning a ticket to the Euroleague.

However, despite the lack of resistance from the Montenegrins, Serbian fans continued to surprise with a minus sign. So, in the course of the game, they have repeatedly staged an obstruction to the French national team player Edwin Jackson. The attacking defender only this season has filled up the composition of Buduchnosti, but is unlikely to forget his performance in the ABA. He was repeatedly insulted because of his race and was thrown with hand objects.

Izlazak Budućnosti i što da Varvari budu gori? Budućnost otišla sa parketa. pic.twitter.com/6HanDI7Lva

“This is sad for our sport. Today basketball is one of my favorite things in the world. Spitting from fans, lighters and monkey hoses flying at you during a match will always be an unacceptable phenomenon. No matter where or when this happens, ”Jackson wrote on his official Instagram page.

The events of the fifth match of the final was also commented on point guard Norris Cole, who twice became the NBA champion in the Miami Heat.

“It was the most unacceptable and unprofessional atmosphere for basketball. Adriatic league should be ashamed of what happened. People threw chairs, drinks, flares and other items onto the playground, and their fans ran out to the floor, tearing off our workout. Absolutely unsafe and unacceptable ", - quotes Cole Eurohoops.

The American expressed the opinion that the leadership of the league was obliged to postpone the meeting to a different date due to the prevailing circumstances.

“We should not have gone to the floor today. But the match inspector and other officials threatened to give us a technical defeat if we did not return to the site, ”Cole added.

This information was confirmed in the club itself. As stated in the statement "Buduchnosti", the leadership of the Adriatic League threatened to count the loss with a score of 0:20, if the Montenegrin team does not agree to return to the floor.

“We are proud of our players who entered the site, despite pressure and other circumstances. We will inform in detail all the clubs of the ABA League about the latest events. We are expecting a change in leadership, which made us end up in such a humiliating situation, ”the Buduchnost press service said.

It is noteworthy that the scandalous events occurred throughout almost the entire final series. So, during the third game, which took place in Podgorica, Buduchnost fans noted with similar behavior. They also threw all sorts of items at the guests, as a result several people from the Red Star staff were injured. In addition, the fans were in close proximity to the site during the warm-up and moved freely in the stands.

The actions of the fans were reviewed by the ABA League Disciplinary Committee, which decided to punish the Montenegrin club. As a result, in the fourth match was closed part of the fan sector hosts.

However, the leadership of Buduchnosti was quick to note that he did not consider it right to compare the behavior of his fans in the third match of the series and the fans of Red Stars - in the fifth.

“Our fans didn’t run up to the floor during warm-ups, didn’t touch the players, didn’t throw chairs and glasses with drinks. In addition, the ABA League leadership took certain steps to control the situation during the match in Podgorica, but did not do it in Belgrade, ”the statement says.

It is worth noting that even before the match, the fans did not behave in the best way. So, on the eve of the third game between the teams, the fans of Buduchnosti surrounded the hotel where the Red Stars of Zalvyat basketball players slept and prevented the athletes from sleeping. A similar story repeated before the fifth meeting.