Georgia surprised Turkey in overtime at the European Basketball Championships. According to the Turkish national team, Furkan Korkmaz, who was kicked out, was attacked in the locker room corridor. Turkey previously threatened to withdraw from the Games if it does not get the surveillance camera tapes.
20:34•Updated 20:53
Finland meets Serbia on Monday at 10 p.m. Live broadcast on TV2 and Areena at 9:40 p.m. The European Basketball Championship is followed in this article.
The European basketball championships saw a fiery match on Sunday. Turkey lost in Group A to Georgia 83–88. Two overtime periods were needed to decide the match. The actual playing time ended 68–68.
Although Turkey’s defeat can be considered a surprise, the biggest topic of conversation was the Turkish NBA player representing the Philadelphia 76ers Furkan Korkmazin send-off, time lost from the game clock and post-match events.
Korkmaz and Georgian Duda Sanadze faced off in the fourth quarter and flew out of the game.
According to the Turkish Basketball Association, three Georgian players attacked Korkmaz after the match. According to the Turks, it was Sanadze and two Georgian players who did not play against Turkey. In addition, the Turks have made accusations against the police. Group A matches will be played in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Among other things, they reported on the matter CNN (switch to another service) and Basketnews (you will switch to another service).
– As soon as we walked out of the player’s tunnel and tried to get to the locker room, I saw three Georgia players running towards us alongside two security guards. We started hitting each other, said Korkmaz, according to Baskewnews.
– It was like a street fight. There was no speech or discussion. People just came and tried to attack us.
The Turkish Federation requires video tapes to see
According to Korkmaz, he was in a situation with the guardian of the Turkish team, and they tried to defend themselves. Korkmaz stated that the clashes on the field are a separate matter, but he called the events outside the field a “security problem”.
Vice President of the Turkish Federation Ömer Onan threatened that Turkey would abandon the games entirely if the Turkish team could not see the surveillance camera footage from the locker room corridor.
Onan demanded to see the surveillance camera tapes, especially because, according to him, security guards or the police were involved in the attack.
On top of that, Turkey made a protest to the International Basketball Federation about the match, because 22 seconds were lost on the clock during the clash between Korkmaz and Sanadze. Lost time was never added to the game clock.
– The Georgian police got into a fight with us. This is why we appeal to the International Basketball Federation. Don’t think we’re stupid. They bring all the videos from the corridor in front of us, minute by minute, without wasting a second. If they don’t do it, we will leave this tournament, Onan enraged Turki in the union’s bulletin (you will switch to another service) still on sunday.
– There are always tensions on the field, but the atmosphere was very good. Okay, something happened between the players. But after that, our player went into the locker room and he, three Georgia national team players and security personnel got into a fight. It is unacceptable, said the assistant coach of Turkey Hakan Demir.
During Monday, the Turkish team is according to its announcement (you will switch to another service) backed down on his threat to leave the Games. The head coach Ergin Ataman however, insisted that the security deficiencies be addressed. According to him, the Turkish Federation has not received the surveillance camera tapes so far.
– If we don’t have security, we will consider the matter with our union and government. Everyone is involved now, including our embassy.
Head coach Ataman said that despite the fight, Korkmaz is physically fit.
– The mental side of my players is not good now, especially Korkmaz’s. Imagine if this happened in the NBA.
Turkey demands at least the end of the match to be replayed
The Turkish federation is still protesting the 22 seconds lost from the game clock, with just over four minutes left in the last quarter. Head coach Ataman said that Turkey demands the Georgia match to be replayed or at least the last four and a half minutes.
– We have submitted our objection to FIBA about this. We are waiting for a clear answer. We won’t let this go. If necessary, the matter will proceed to CAS (International Court of Appeal for Sports), announced the manager of the Turkish national team Muratcan Güler.
Turkey is in Group A after three games on five points, as is the top four. Before the loss to Georgia, Turkey beat Montenegro and Bulgaria. In addition to the victory in Turkey, Georgia has lost in overtime to Belgium and in regular time to Spain.
The top four in each group advance to the playoffs. Situations of the blocks in Teksti-tv from this link.
Finland meets Serbia on Monday at 10 p.m. Live broadcast on TV2 and Areena at 9:40 p.m. The European Basketball Championship is followed in this article.