https://basketnews.com/news-207247-crve ... clear.htmlCrvena Zvezda-Partizan Finals game forfeited, title winner unclear
2024 June 05 22:18
Game 2 of the Serbian League Finals was interrupted and ultimately forfeited due to fans' behavior.
Credit ABA League j.t.d./Dragana Stjepanovic
Game 2 of the Serbian League (KLS) Finals did not end on the day when it was supposed to.
During the third quarter of the game between Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade and Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade, Partizan fans started chanting insults toward Crvena Zvezda's president Nebojsa Covic and his family, which eventually led to the match being stopped. After some deliberation, the game was stopped.
Although Uros Trifunovic addressed the public via the announcer's microphone, it did not help. Members of Crvena Zvezda were escorted, and the three referees left the cour
The game was interrupted for more than half an hour. At first, the solution local officials thought about was removing all fans from the Belgrade Arena. Ultimately, it was proven unsuccessful.
Although the initially believed consensus was that the game would be resumed on Thursday, June 6th, Crvena Zvezda players showed up on the court more than half an hour later. Additionally, referees and the Arena Sport TV crew returned to the court, and eventually, everything was set to resume the game that same night, Mozzart Sport reports.
Partizan players, meanwhile, headed to the locker rooms after the initial announcement that the game would not continue. According to BasketNews sources, multiple players had already left the venue at the time.
After Crvena Zvezda players showed up on the court, Partizan had 15 minutes to return to the court. However, the team did not show up, resulting in Partizan being handed a loss.
Serbian league director Aleksandar Grujin later explained that the announcement about the postponed game was made by the arena's announcer, not the league.
"All the information you get is from the first referee and the delegate. I have no explanation for what the announcer did. Ask him," he told Mozzart Bet.
Grujin also declared the game was forfeited, and the win was given to Crvena Zvezda with a result of 20:0.
Partizan later released a statement, categorically going against such a decision:
After it was requested that the hall be emptied, the black-and-white team waited for a long time on the court for the continuation so that the official representatives of KK Partizan would receive information from the referees about the interruption and continuation of the match within 24 hours.
The Partizan team then retreated to the locker room and the players were given time off. When the referees and players of Crvena Zvezda suddenly appeared on the court more than an hour after the break, the players of Partizan went home.
Crvena Zvezda, the referees, and the delegate want to award the title of national champion to Crvena Zvezda in this way, and KK Partizan Mozzart Bet does not want to participate in such a scandal.
Crvena Zvezda were leading the best-of-three series 1:0. The game was stopped with Partizan leading 57:45 with more than 7 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
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