After FIBA’s sanctions regarding the brawl that occured between Gilas Pilipinas and the Australia Boomers was released Thursday afternoon, Calvin Abueva bored the brunt of FIBA’s sanctions — being hammered with a six-game suspension.
This was a game more than Roger Pogoy (one of the instigators of the brawl), Carl Cruz (who came off the bench), and Jio Jalalon (who was not in the lineup for the game). Australia’s Daniel Kickert was only slapped with a five game suspension as well.
With this, Abueva, who is averaging 4.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game in the tournament, will miss the entirety of the second round of the Qualifiers.
SBP president Al Panlilio shed light on why Abueva was punished so harshly by the regulating body.
“It was very clear on Calvin’s side and these are [some of the] things that we need to clarify,” admitted Panlilio.
However, Panlilio opined that it’s one of the cases that had a player’s reputation affect the decision.
Back in the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup, Abueva threw a head butt at a Chinese player that drew the ire of FIBA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEdiSXnwsl8
“There was a commotion during the warm-ups and on top of that, there was a previous altercation that Calvin had in 2015 that saw him heeadbutt an opponent,” shared Panlilio.
“Kumbaga, he was a repeat offender so that added a little bit of weight.”
On the other hand, Allein Maliksi, one of two pool players who were not on-duty but were involved in the brawl, was not given any punishment by FIBA.
