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December 15, 2010

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Home » Sports » Basketball

China coach, 3 players banned over mass brawls

CHINA'S basketball coach and three of his players were suspended on Monday after mass brawls marred a friendly match against Brazil.

Basketball's governing body (FIBA) banned coach Bob Donewald Jr for three matches and fined him 40,000 Swiss francs (US$41,000) because the American stayed on the bench instead of leaving the arena after receiving two technical fouls.

Fights then broke out as China's players attacked the Brazilians in the Jincheng Arena in southwest China's Sichuan Province, forcing the match in October to be abandoned.

FIBA banned China player Zhu Fangyu for two matches and Sun Yue and Zhang Bo for one each.

"This sends the important message that such violence within the sport is utterly unacceptable," FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann said in a statement.

In its ruling, FIBA said it expected Donewald Jr to show "exemplary and sportsmanlike behavior" during a two-year probation period.

The Chinese Basketball Association was fined 20,000 Swiss francs.

"We are grateful to the (CBA), who have been fully collaborative and have formally apologized, expressing their regret for this unfortunate incident," Baumann said.

After the incident, CBA Vice Chairman Li Jinsheng said the entire team was ordered to attend classes on good sportsmanship.

China was initially suspended from internationals but was reinstated to compete in the Asian Games tournament it hosted in Guangzhou last month.

Coached by Donewald Jr, China won the gold medal with a team including all three of the players who were suspended.

Three referees, Jiang Tongbiao, Jan Jun and He Luwei, received one-year bans from international competitions for "failing to officiate according to the letter and the spirit" of the rules during the Brazil match.




 

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