“We hope that the Euroleague will do the work and make the right decisions,” said the team captain

Paris Basketball players denounced “monkey cries” during the Eurocup match played Tuesday, November 14 in Badalone, Spain. “It happened in the middle of the match, it was one of our teammates who was targeted”tells franceinfo the captain of the team, the Swiss pivot Michael Kessens, who was on the floor. “Several players saw the gestures, heard what was said, the monkey noises, which were thrown at our teammates.”

“It’s shocking. We hear about this kind of phenomenon, but experiencing it is something completely different. That’s why as a team, we wanted to denounce what happened, to Let this not happen again.”

Michael Kessens, captain of Paris Basketball

at franceinfo

“The players who saw that stayed focused on the match, that’s something very respectable for me, because not everyone would have done itunderlines the team captain. It was at the end of the match that there was tension, verbal exchanges with fans. Finishing the match may seem surprising to some. But the fact that we have platforms to highlight this kind of bullshit, because that’s what it’s ultimately about, that’s where we decided to do it and not on field. Afterwards, thinking about it, we could have asked to stop the match.”

“We just hope that something will happen”

“It’s sad, in 2023, that this kind of thing happens again in basketball, in football, it’s a negative image for the supporters, for the club. It’s not the first time that this has happened there. That people are complaining about this kind of behavior”deplores Michael Kessens. “There are no sanctions, we just hope that something will happen. We hope that the Euroleague [qui organise la compétition] will do the job and make the right decisions.”

Euroleague Basketball indicates in a press release that the accusation concerning the cries of monkeys “was the subject of an investigation by the competent bodies”reports AFP.