Organizers originally meant it to be an exhibition match and a "friendly game" between the Sta. Lucia Realtors from the Philippine Basketball Association and the Al Ahli Basketball Club of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates over the weekend. The friendly game, however, turned sour and ended in a rumble.
The Al Ahli squad was made up of a coach and reinforcements from the United States. One of them was 6'9" Corsley Edwards who once suited up for the New Orleans Hornets in the National Basketball Association.
The Dubai-based team led by its American imports showed prowess in the court during the first and second quarters.
The third quarter, however, saw Sta. Lucia catching up. Players turned physical against one another at this point on.
In one play, an American import showed untoward aggresiveness against the Realtors' Joseph Yeo after the Filipino fouled him.
Later, Edwards landed a foot on Sta. Lucia's Denok Miranda after performing a dunk. This happened before the American let go of the ring.
Howls filled the court as Dennis Espino of the Realtors was levied a penalty for a hard foul.
Tension remained in the air until another hard foul took place.
In the play that followed, Miranda was elbowed by an Al Ahli player. Then, the riot started.
Sta. Lucia coach and the American mentor of the opposing team were not spared because they too traded barbs.
Dubai police and locals, however, immediately pacified the two squads.
In the end, policemen were able to stand between the groups.
Authorities decided to cancel the game.
Filipino fans, meanwhile, had no choice but to come down to the court and have their autographs signed by the visiting PBA players.
The Sta. Lucia team apologized to fans for the outcome of the game.
"Nakakahiya nga sa fans, grabe rin kasi silang mang ano eh, pikon eh, pikon sila,” he said.
Kelly Williams, the Realtors' American import, meanwhile, had this to say: “Its what hppens, I think they started to get scared.”
For Sta. Lucia team manager Buddy Encarnado, said that he still believes that what happened was a friendly game following the Realtors' Middle East tour of Bahrain, Qatar and the UEA for exhibition matches.
“At the end of the day this is a friendly game, probably this is a way of probably saying that is was an exciting ballgame." Dindo Amparo, ABS-CBN Middle East News Bureau
Source:
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=129814