Luol Deng blasts FIBA for African Qualifiers: 'We were robbed today' / News - Basketnews.com

South Sudanese fans were not allowed to watch the game in which their country clinched a spot in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Former NBA forward and now head coach and president of the South Sudanese Federation, Luol Deng heavily criticized FIBA and local organizers for it.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

South Sudan's national team made history yesterday, qualifying for the 2023 FIBA World Cup for the first time in the country's history. However, the local fans could not experience the joy together with the team.

Luol Deng

Position:SFAge:37Height:206 cmWeight:100 kgBirth place:South SudanProfileNewsStatistics

Hosted in Alexandria, Egypt, the last African Qualifiers round of Group F features six teams who play three matches each to finish off the stage. The day of the first games, local authorities reportedly announced that no fans would be allowed to the game between South Sudan and Senegal.

Coached by former NBA forward Luol Deng, South Sudan defeated Senegal 83-75 and clinched a spot in the basketball fiesta in The Philippines, Indonesia, and Japan later this year.

After the game, Deng, who is also the president of the South Sudanese Basketball Federation, blasted both FIBA and the local organizers for what happened earlier in the day.

"This is going out to FIBA, this is going out to the Egyptian Federation. Whatever's been going on this week, I hope everything is being recorded how teams are being treated and everything's been programmed," Deng started off. "That's an incredible story not only for FIBA but for African basketball."

"Our fans are travelling from states, travelling from countries, flying in. Nobody brings in more fans than South Sudan right now," he continued. "For our fans to show up at the stadium... There was no notice. We were never told that there would be no fans allowed in the game. We were told fans were allowed to come."

Later on, Deng revealed that the federation wasn't informed about the change in time, forcing people to just stand outside in hopes of getting into the Al Ittihad Stadium.

"This morning we woke up and the fans were outside. They stood there the entire game, they were not allowed. FIBA should be ashamed, the Egyptian Federation should be ashamed. Whatever is going on here, it needs to stop. Basketball doesn't need this," Deng was furious.

"This is a great story and we've been robbed today from celebrating with our fans who came all the way out here," he said. "That's the biggest disappointment that I have. We make history and our fans are now allowed on the day of making it. They didn't announce it yesterday or last week, they announced it today. FIBA needs to look at that."

South Sudan captured an impressive number of wins in the African Qualifiers. Through 11 games so far, the squad has won 10 games and only lost to Senegal in August of last year. Their last game is against the hosts Egypt tomorrow.

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