The Australian basketball team has flown home early after a nasty all-in brawl with the Philippines sparked worldwide controversy.
The Boomers, as they are known, flew out early today after their World Cup men’s basketball qualifier against the host country ended in wild scenes, with 13 players ejected after the ugly mass brawl.
Basketball’s international governing body has opened an official probe into the disgraceful scenes and players from both teams seem likely to face heavy sanctions due to the chaos at the end of the match, which was captured on the following video.
For the record, the Boomers defeated the Philippines 89-53 to top their Asian qualifying group. However, the match had to end early because the hosts ran out of players after many were ejected in the third quarter.
Australia had a comfortable 79-48 lead when a vigorous off-the-ball foul from Philippine player Roger Pogoy on Australian guard Chris Goulding caused teammate Daniel Kickert to react strongly, with an apparent elbow to the face.
That lead to the game descending into madness with players on both benches running to get involved.