2022 Basketball World Cup: Mali apologizes after a fight between two of its players, Fiba opens an investigation

The International Basketball Federation (Fiba) announced on Tuesday, September 27, that it had opened an investigation after a fight the day before between two players from Mali, during the Women’s Basketball World Cup in Sydney. Monday, just after Mali’s fourth defeat in four matches, synonymous with group elimination, against Serbia (81-68), two players, including Salimatou Kourouma, came to blows in the Olympic mixed zone. Park Sports Center, where media and players meet, before being separated by teammates, noted an AFP journalist. Well‍♀️… I would like to point out that this is not the image that we really did not want to convey. God knows we get along well and there is unfortunately a skid that we would have liked to avoid! We would like to apologize to the Malian people and to the African people… https://t.co/WqnRgfZwiR — Touty Gandega❤️ (@Poupexe) September 26, 2022 “Fiba recognizes that there was an altercation between Malian players in the mixed zone (…). Following this incident, it opened an investigation. Fiba will decide to take any possible disciplinary action once it is over”, indicated in a press release the body whose president, Hamane Niang, is Malian. On Monday, the leader of Mali Touty Gandega had explained on her Twitter account that the selection wanted to “apologize”: “Well… I want to clarify that this is not the image that we really did not want to convey. God knows we get along well and there, unfortunately, it is a slippage that we would have liked to avoid! We would like to apologize to the Malian people and to the African people”, Gandega tweeted on Monday. “I know it’s CRAZY what happened but the little ones deeply regret their behavior!”, She added. For its last group match, Mali faces Canada on Tuesday (at 8 a.m. French)