‘Fake news’ says coach over abuse

Philippines coach Chot Reyes has conceded he didn’t hear any Australian Boomers racially abuse his players during last week’s ugly brawl in Manila.

In an interview on SportsCenter Philippines, Reyes was asked if Australia’s players used derogatory terms to describe the Philippines players.

“No, I can say honestly that’s fake news,” Reyes said. “I didn’t hear or didn’t have any notion that they were calling our players those terms at halftime, so I didn’t see it.”

This Reyes’ statement occurred before racism claims were made by freelance photojournalist, Winston Baltasar.

In an interview with Australia’s ABC Radio programme The Ticket, Baltasar said Australian players called Gilas Pilipinas players “monkey” during the game and before the fight.

Baltasar, however, could not identify which Australian players he heard using the racial slur.

The Australian Basketballers’ Association and Basketball Australia have released a joint statement slamming the claims Baltasar alleged were made during the fight-marred game between Gilas Pilipinas and Australia at the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan on July 2.

“We take these allegations against our players extremely seriously and are deeply disappointed the ABC should choose to publish them,” Basketball Australia Chief Executive Anthony Moore said in the statement. The fight resulted in 13 ejections. The Philippine and Australian basketball federations are awaiting further disciplinary action from Fiba.

“We did hear the word ‘monkey’ being thrown around . . . I couldn’t hear exactly who said it, but I did hear it, and like I said when the Boomers were up by 30 points, I don’t think words like that should be thrown around,” he said on the ABC.

Australian Basketballers’ Association chief executive and former Australian Boomer Jacob Holmes categorically refuted the claims made by Baltasar.

“The allegations made by Mr Baltasar are unsubstantiated and highly defamatory and we are reviewing our legal avenues to address them,” Holmes said.

“The Boomers pride themselves on their inclusive and diverse composition, just like the country they represent and the comments made by Mr Baltasar and republished by the ABC have caused immense distress to our players.’’

The Philippines team accused Boomers forward Daniel Kickert of kicking Filipino players in the pregame warm-up.