Korkumaz, who plays for his home country Turkey, was sent off after a foul in the fourth quarter of the tournament on Sunday and an on-court confrontation with Georgia guard Duda Sanadze. Both players can be seen in video of the game going head-to-head in a heated exchange before both are finally ejected from the game.
Turkish Basketball Federation Vice-President Omer Onan said in a statement: “When Furkan Kolkaz walked with our trainers down the corridor to the dressing room, a Georgian player who was not on the active roster was called. They attacked him.” He claimed that security guards were also involved.
CNN reached out to the Georgia Basketball National Federation but did not hear back immediately. The 76ers declined to comment on the incident.
Korkmaz has not spoken publicly about the incident, but tweeted three Turkish flag emojis on his verified Twitter account. According to sources, Korkmaz was unharmed during the incident.
Turkey’s assistant head coach Hakan Demir told reporters at a press conference that it was three Georgian players and security personnel who attacked the 76ers’ guard.
Demir added that the Turkish team is there to play basketball and off-court events are irrelevant to the sport.
“Of course, everything has to be on the court, but unfortunately what happened in the hallways and locker rooms was not suitable for this sport. We need more hospitality and more gentlemanly behavior. I was expecting
Onan, meanwhile, asked the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) to release camera footage from the hallway where the incident occurred, as well as threatening the team to leave the tournament.
When asked about the incident at a press conference, Georgia head coach Ilias Zouros said he had never heard of it.
FIBA Europe confirmed to CNN it was investigating the incident, but declined to comment until it “confirms all the facts.”
Georgia beat Turkey 88-83 in double overtime at the Tbilisi Arena. Turkey filed an official protest, in which he claimed that the 22 seconds had been accidentally removed from the watch.
Turkey will play Belgium on Tuesday, while Georgia will play Bulgaria.
Source: www.cnn.com
