Scandal in Italy: Albanian attacks young Serbian basketballs with a knife, KSS furious at FIBA

Foto: MN Press

Serbia's cadet basketball team experienced real horror in the streets of Udine, Italy - where they are taking part in the European Championships - when they were attacked with a knife by an Albanian!

The incident happened on Thursday night when the players took a tour of the city; all of this has been confirmed by KSS Vice President Igor Rakocevic.

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"He (the Albanian) was saying all kinds of things, that Kosovo is Albania, not Serbia, he followed them until they went down one alley, but luckily, the kids are athletes and they quickly ran away when they saw that he was pulling out a knife. The kids behaved sportsman-like, but he was becoming even more aggressive and persistent, luckily they were quickly locked in at the hotel. I have to thank the Italian police and the Carabinieri who were quick to react in this situation, but FIBA (International Basketball Association) ​​has been disastrous, both when it comes to refereeing and when it comes to security," Rakocevic tells Telegraf, and adds:

"Until now, there was no one who would provide security for our players, either in the city or at the hotel, and they knew what could happen, we have been warning about it. We gave the kids a day off to relax and take a walk around town, and they experienced this. They also could have qualified for the final of the European Championships, but the refereeing has been disastrous."

Serbia's young team was defeated by Spain 71-72 in the quarter-finals, in a game that saw strange refereeing decisions, and will not fight for a medal but for a 5-8 place finish.

Screenshot Fiba

Our boys were loosing 71-68, but scored a three-pointer in the last attack to make it 71-71. 1.9 seconds left, and the Spaniards had the attack, which our team would have probably defended against. However, the referee awarded a technical foul against a Serbian player who was standing by the line and defending against the ball being thrown back in.

He inadvertently, while jumping, stepped into the ball area, which according to FIBA ​​rules is treated as a technical error. Spain hit one free throw and progressed in the competition.

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(Telegraf.rs)