Basketball Australia launches investigation into Liz Cambage incident
Opals star Liz Cambage is under a code of conduct and integrity investigation, Basketball Australia has confirmed. The governing body said on Monday that Cambage is being investigated for an alleged altercation during a pre-Games practice match against Nigeria.
Cambage dropped a bombshell last Friday when she pulled out of the Games, citing mental health concerns. On Saturday, she hit out at speculation in the media, calling it lies and fake news. One of the issues raised shortly before Cambage’s announcement was what had happened during the Nigeria match behind closed doors in Las Vegas.
“The circumstances surrounding the incident that occurred during the scrimmage between Nigeria and Australia involving Liz Cambage are currently under investigation for a breach of the integrity framework and code of conduct,” BA said in a statement.
Australia’s Olympic team chef de mission, Ian Chesterman, had said on Friday he was aware that BA was looking into Cambage and the Nigeria scrimmage. In her social media video posted on Saturday, Cambage directly addressed the speculation.
“Yeah, things got heated in the Nigeria game, there was a physical altercation and there were words exchanged,” she said. “But I’m hearing things that aren’t true at all. Everything that happened and everything I’ve said is on film.”
BA said it would not comment on the investigation until it is over, given Cambage’s withdrawal from the Games team due to mental health reasons. BA’s integrity division will run the investigation.