Shengelia gives his view on Korkmaz incident: 'We were called every kind of names' / News - Basketnews.com

Tornike Shengelia claims he was provoked to join the conflict with Furkan Korkmaz.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

Tornike Shengelia provided his own view of the Furkan Korkmaz incident that involved the fight outside of the basketball court.

Tornike Shengelia

Position:PFAge:30Height:206 cmWeight:103 kgBirth place:Tbilisi, GeorgiaProfileNewsStatistics

As stated by the player in the Georgian Basketball Federation's Instagram post, he was provoked to join the conflict. He also admitted that he had to control his emotions better.

Full statement:

"An ugly situation was created out of thin air and it is very unfortunate how it was handled. It could easily have been avoided from both sides.

On one hand, we could have reacted differently and not have let our emotions get the best of us.

We should have done a better job not reacting to the provocation. We reacted as human beings, as men, and demonstrated our reaction.

On the other hand, when the conflict starts on the court, it should always stay there. You should not ask other teams' players in front of their friends, family, and thousands of fans to go to the tunnel and continue the fight there.

Not only that, but when we were on our way to the locker room, the provocations continued from the other side of the tunnel. We were called every kind of names and asked with hand gestures to go there and fight.

Also, the declarations that have been made to the media from the Turkish side, have painted a very different picture, which created aggression from Turkish fans towards us and our families.

Aggression which includes very disturbing messages and death threats."

Meanwhile, Korkmaz narrated the infamous incident differently than Shengelia.

"It was like a street fight. There was no talk or conversation. People just came at us and were trying to attack us. Of course, we reacted and tried to defend ourselves – exactly what we are going to do as men. I also think it's a security problem. But I don't know if it's a security problem or if they just showed tolerance to their players.

We understand that they're at home, but this is unacceptable. What happens on the court is fine, but we should talk more about what happens off the court," Korkmaz told the media.

Scuffle between Furkan Korkmaz and Duda Sanadze:

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