South Sudan’s basketball coach Royal Ivey was angry with the referees after Saturday’s 85:96 loss to Serbia and elimination from the tournament at the Olympics in Paris. He accused them of bias and pointed out the large disparity in free throws made.
“Our opponents had 31 free throws, we only had six. Please explain to me how this is possible? It’s a mockery and an absolute parody,” stated the coach at the press conference after the match.
“My players gave everything. Blood, sweat and tears. Someone explain to me how it is possible that we only threw a single six in the second half,” Ivey continues.
In addition, the referees threatened to expel him during the match for leaving the defined area behind the sideline. They tolerated the similar behavior of the coach of Serbia.
The problem, according to former NBA player Loulou Deng, is that the referees were completely unfamiliar with the African players’ style of play.
“They let the opposition play their game while they whistled our guys every single touch,” says Deng.
According to him, it is not true at all that players from Africa are more aggressive than others. He also sees a problem in the fact that African referees were absent from the Olympic tournament.
“It’s 2024. For an event that has players from all over the continent, there should be African referees. They only play the European style here and we can’t play our game?” Deng was angry.
Source: sportweb.pravda.sk
