The World Basketball Championship qualifier between Australia and the Philippines has turned into a mass brawl. In the end, the referees stopped the game prematurely.
Nine players from the Philippine national team and four Australians were expelled from the field after they became violent on the field.
The starting point was an offensive foul against Australia’s Chris Goulding four minutes before the end of the third quarter at 79:48. His opponent had elbowed him to the ground. Goulding’s team-mate Daniel Kickert also took revenge with an elbow strike on the Filipino.
As a result, chaos broke out in the arena in Manila: The players on the court beat each other first with fists, then sometimes even with chairs, the Philippine bench players stormed the field to support their opponents in the brawl.
Thon Maker of the Milwaukee Bucks was also involved in the brawl. The Australian jumped into an opponent with his knee and struck out with his feet.
After the situation calmed down, the referees put a total of 13 players off the field. As it hit nine Philippines, the team had to make do with three players from now on.
However, this situation did not last long: two Filipinos took their fifth foul, leaving only one player left on the pitch, and the referees finally broke off the match at 89:53 for Australia.