The Euroleague game between the basketball teams Real Madrid and Partizan Belgrade was canceled shortly before the end due to a mass brawl between the players. The two players initially clashed after Real’s point guard Sergio Llull fouled Belgrade point guard Kevin Punter with 100 seconds remaining. But immediately other members of the teams rushed in and there was a pack formation and tumult.
Belgrade’s Mathias Lessort grabbed Real’s winger Dzanan Musa from behind by the neck and pulled him over. And Madrid’s muscle man Guerschon Yabusele grabbed Dante Exum, lifted him wrestling-style and threw him to the ground.
The referees and the support staff of the teams finally managed to calm the situation down. Even family members had rushed onto the field to break up the opponents. According to the Euroleague live ticker, the referees pronounced disqualifying fouls against more than 20 players. The game was stopped at the score of 95:80 for the guests from Belgrade.
Belgrade coach Zeljko Obradovic said after the cancellation: “I believe that what happened is not good for basketball’s image, not good for Real Madrid’s image and also not good for Partizan. In my opinion, something like that should never happen happen.” The players would have emotions, but on the other hand they would have greeted each other after the game and discussed the incident.
He will try to calm everyone in Belgrade, said Obradovic. “And why? Because I have friends here. It’s a great club, Real Madrid. […] We’ve always had amazing hospitality here from everyone in Madrid. […] I’ll try to reassure everyone, so that we welcome Real Madrid like the people here welcomed us. That they will support our team, yes, but that they will not do anything against Real Madrid.”
Real captain Rudy Fernandez apologized to fans after the game. “We can’t just leave these kinds of incidents as they are, but as players we have emotions and we make mistakes. Today was one of those days,” said Fernandez: “We see Partizan as a friendly team, coach Zeljko knows this hall very well and we all feel the same. The tension has to stop here and we just have to play basketball for the fans to enjoy the EuroLeague.”
Real also lost the first game of the quarter-final series at home against Partizan with 87:89. The third game will take place on May 2nd in Belgrade’s Stark Arena. The team that wins three games first advances.
