A EuroLeague match between Real Madrid and Australian star Dante Exum’s Partizan Belgrade has ended early after a huge brawl erupted among the basketball players with less than two minutes left in the playoff game.
Former Boston Celtics player Guerschon Yabusele ended up apologising to Exum after slamming him onto the floor during the brawl.
Yabusele was one of four players handed suspensions on Friday for their role in the fight which broke out after a hard foul by Madrid’s point guard Sergio Llull with 100 seconds left to go at the WiZink Center in the Spanish capital.
Chaos ensued as players from both teams cleared the benches and began clashing on the court, including throwing punches and pushing each other.
Exum was flung to the ground by Yabusele during the melee and had to be helped from the court.
He was reportedly seen leaving the stadium on crutches.
Later on social media, Frenchman Yabusele said: “I deeply regret my behaviour at last night’s game. Basketball is about sportsmanship and friendship.
“My sincere apologies to Partizan, a club with which we have always had a great relationship, to Dante Exum and his family, to my teammates, my club and all the fans.”
But Yabusele was given a five-match ban for his behaviour while Partizan’s American player, Kevin Punter, was given a two-game ban. Gabriel Deck, of Madrid, and Partizan’s Matthias Lessort were given one-game bans.
The clubs were also fined 50,000 euros ($A83,000) for “unsportsmanlike conduct by both teams preventing the normal conclusion of the game”, the EuroLeague said.
A member of the Boomers’ bronze medal-winning team at the Tokyo Olympics and a former NBA player, Exum is in his first season with the Serbian side after playing with FC Barcelona in 2022.
Spanish basketball star Llull also apologised to the fans after the incident.
“What happened last night should never happen on a basketball court,” he wrote on Twitter on Friday.
“I take responsibility for this hard foul that triggered the disaster that followed. I apologise to all basketball fans.”
According to the EuroLeague live ticker, disqualifying fouls were called by the referees against more than 20 players.
The game was suspended with Partizan ahead 95-80.
“When disqualifications were applied for those players participating in the altercation and those automatically ejected for leaving the bench area, neither team had the requisite minimum of two players each required to finish the game,” the EuroLeague said in its official post-game report.
“Therefore the game is considered officially ended with the score at the time it was stopped, 80-95 in favour of Partizan, which therefore now leads the series 2-0.”
Madrid had lost the first game of the quarter-final series 87-89, also at home to Partizan. The team that wins three games first advances.
– with AAP and AP
