Hedo Turkoglu: 'If Georgia has balls, why don't they show camera footage?' / News - Basketnews.com

Turkish basketball federation president Hedo Turkoglu gave his statement to the media regarding FIBA's decision to dismiss their protest and the incident that followed during Turkey's game against Georgia.

Credit: FIBA.com Credit FIBA.com

Turkish basketball federation president Hedo Turkoglu gave his statement to the media regarding FIBA's decision to dismiss their protest and the incident that followed during Turkey's game against Georgia.

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Georgian basketball federation published the statement in which they called Ergin Ataman's and other Turkish national team members' comments 'a provocation', after the Turkish national team claimed that Furkan Korkmaz was allegedly attacked by three Georgian players, who reportedly are Tornike Shengelia, Goga Bitadze, and Duda Sanadze.

However, Turkoglu said that Turkey is still waiting for the camera footage they asked for and offered the Georgian federation to make it public.

"If they think it's a provocation, why don't they show the footage to the public?" Turkoglu asked the media. "I'm offering you right now. If they think we're provoking someone and they have the guts, why don't they show the cameras and what happened in the locker room?"

"Then we'll see who's lying and who's not. Who's provoking or not. Next time you see them, ask them this question, too. If you believe in yourself that much, why don't you show the cameras to the whole world what happened?

Then we can say whether we provoked someone or not. If you believe in yourself that much… If you have the guts, if you have balls, why don't you show the footage? But if you don't have it, you shouldn't be talking about the situation," Turkoglu continued.

Turkoglu also admitted that players' and staff safety is also the priority of TBF, and he took responsibility. However, TBF president didn't hide his disappointment with the whole situation.

"It's also a shame for FIBA and Georgian federation. We also blame ourselves because, as a federation, we are responsible for our players, coaches, and staff's safety. It's no. 1 priority. We've come with confidence [that it will be provided].

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But as we've seen from the Georgian committee and FIBA, they still didn't provide us the camera footage of what happened in the tunnel. How can two players leave the bench, attack our player, and don't receive any decision on such [behavior]?

It's not just a 22-second [incident], it's another shame for FIBA and the Georgian federation. It's not easy for us to accept this kind of behavior," Turkoglu added.

It was not the only moment that caused heated moments or controversy in the game. Turkey made the protest to FIBA because, during the Korkmaz-Sanadze incident, 22 seconds were lost from the clock and were never reverted back.

However, FIBA dismissed Turkey's protest, and Turkoglu shared his views on such a decision.

"I've been talking with my friends all over the world, the things that happened in Georgia are a huge shame for FIBA and FIBA Europe. The response they gave us back is a huge shame for Europe.

As an ex-player, I [can say that you] always fight until the last second. We always fight until the end. People win and lose games in the last seconds. The FIBA's response to the lost 22 seconds is not acceptable.

It's not a loss for Turkey. It's a loss for basketball. It's a scandal for European basketball. Every day I see that FIBA and FIBA Europe are collapsing every day. It's not only in Georgia. It's the same in Germany and other places where officiating scandals take place.

I think that FIBA is not the right organization [to be involved] in this situation. These scandals are not easy to accept. We'll fight for our rights, and we'll do whatever it takes. It's not easy to accept decisions that affect the culture and competition of the sport.

I'm sure that [I wasn't the only one that] FIBA's response didn't satisfy. I'm sure it's everybody. I don't think it satisfies you [says to reporter], either. We have never seen these scandals before. As a Turkish federation, we'll fight not only for our rights but for the whole basketball," Turkoglu continued.

In its statement, FIBA argued that Turkey failed to establish in their protest, as per the Official Basketball Rules, that a different result would have certainly materialized if it had not been for the timekeeping operations error.

After being asked whether FIBA gave a more detailed explanation to TBF, Turkoglu didn't give a positive answer.

"When that scandal happened, there was still 4.5 minutes left, and the game went to overtime. How can FIBA make a decision about the game that went overtime and say that 22 seconds cannot affect the outcome? It's nonsense that we haven't heard before in our lives.

We are not talking about 1 or 2 seconds. We are talking about 22 seconds. It's not a great explanation from FIBA. People are dying, winning and losing championships in less than one second. Now, FIBA is saying that 22 seconds didn't affect the result. It's a big shame. I'm sure it will be a good lesson for them going forward," said Turkoglu.

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