The Euroleague explains why Madrid-Partizán was suspended: there were 21 disqualifications | Sports

After one in the morning, the Euroleague issued a statement in which it explained why the referees decided to suspend the match between Real Madrid and Partizán with 80-95 on the scoreboard and 1m 40s to play, after the attacks between the two equipment. “When the disqualifications were applied to the players who participated in the altercation and to those automatically expelled for leaving the bench area, neither of the two teams had the minimum of two players each necessary to finish the game, so it is considered that the game officially ended with the score at the time it was stopped, 80-95 in favor of Partizan, which therefore now leads the series 2-0,” the Euroleague commented in its note. In total, 21 players were disqualified.

When Kevin Punter and Sergio Llull faced each other after an unsportsmanlike foul by the Spanish player, the WiZink Center court became at times a ring in which the players of the two teams faced each other and flew blows. Punter hit Musa, and Yabusele grabbed Exum by the neck and knocked him down violently on the floor. The Australian left without being able to support one of his legs. In addition, the rest of the members of the benches also jumped into the playing area. All those who participated in the incident while already on the court or leaving from the band were disqualified, so the match could not continue. The Euroleague has referred what happened to the Disciplinary Judge of the competition, who will make a decision on the sanctions within a period of 24 hours.

Especially violent was Yabusele’s attack on Exum, which injured the Partizan player. This is how the doctor from the Serbian team explained it to the media in his country: “The tendon of the second toe has ruptured. It is a serious injury. I have never seen anything like that in my life. It’s been terrifying. The way in which Yabusele has caught him, with a judo key, is imprisonment or suspension for life. He could have damaged her spinal cord or her head and ended her career.” The Frenchman apologized this Friday through social networks: “I deeply regret my behavior in last night’s game. Basketball is sportsmanship and friendship. My sincerest apologies to Partizan, a club with which we have always had a great relationship, to Dante Exum and his family, to my teammates, to my club and to all the fans”.

After the match, Zeljko Obradovic, who coached Real Madrid between 1994 and 1997, tried to calm things down especially in view of Tuesday’s match in Belgrade, for which all the tickets in a pavilion for almost 20,000 spectators have been sold (the Stark Arena is the venue with the highest average attendance in the Euroleague regular season, 17,763 spectators). “What has happened is not good for basketball, nor for the image of Real Madrid or Partizán. This can’t happen anymore. From this moment I will try to calm all the people in Belgrade. I want to talk about basketball, I do not want to talk about this. I have friends here and great respect for everyone. When we get to Belgrade, I’m going to try to calm down all the people who receive Real Madrid. They are not going to do anything. Every day I will repeat this. We need to talk about basketball. When it comes to basketball there is nothing better”, commented Obradovic. “You have to look at who started and why they started. You have to control your emotions and not respond. And when one responds, well what happened happens. I have already spoken in the locker room with the players. You have to control emotions and whoever controls emotions has a better chance of doing something in sport”, added the Serbian coach, a nine-time European Cup winner, once with Madrid in 1995.

Rudy Fernández also referred to the pitched battle. “We have to apologize to our fans and to all basketball fans. Zeljko said it. They consider us a friendly team and Partizan have always taken great care of us. Zeljko and Left [su ayudante] They know this house very well. The tension of the match has to stay today, we hope that the players, as many of them as we are, are well enough to play basketball and that people enjoy the Euroleague, and that this doesn’t happen again”. “We have to apologize. You have to understand the moment and the frustration. You have to put yourself in the shoes of the players, know what heart rate they are at and try to understand it”, added the Madrid coach, Chus Mateo.

This Friday morning, Llull posted a message on Twitter: “Last night should never happen on a basketball court. I take responsibility for making that harsh foul that triggered the subsequent disaster. My apologies to all basketball fans.”

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