Furkan Korkmaz gave his version of events after a controversial game between Georgia and Turkey, where the Philadelphia 76ers forward was attacked by three Georgian players and two security guards.
After a controversial game between Georgia and Turkey, Turkish national team forward Furkan Korkmaz gave his version of the event.
| Player of the Game | |
|
EFF
20
|
| Sandro Mamukelashvili | |
| Points | 20 |
| Accuracy | 8-17 |
| Rebounds | 12 |
| Assists | 1 |
After being involved in the scuffle on the court with Georgian national team member Duda Sanadze, another fight took place in the tunnel.
Korkmaz was attacked by three Georgian players as he was going to the locker room. According to Ismail Senol from BeIN Sports Turkiye, the trio that attacked the player was Tornike Shengelia, Goga Bitadze, and Sanadze himself.
"You saw a little part of what happened on the court," Korkmaz began his statement. "We got into each other face to face, and he started talking shit to me. I'm not gonna let anyone talk shit to my face."
"In the game, yeah. It's part of the game. You talk something and say something back, but the thing he said wasn't something I'll let slide. I reacted as a human being, as a player, and as a man," Korkmaz added.
After being asked about the incident in the tunnel, the Philadelphia 76ers forward confirmed that there was a physical interaction between him and other Georgia team members.
"When I was talking to the tunnel, our conditioning guy was with me. As soon as we walked out of the tunnel and were trying to reach the locker room, I saw three Georgian players alongside two security guys running at us. We started throwing punches at each other. That's basically what happened," Korkmaz said.
"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 continued.
After being asked to confirm whether he was also involved in physical interaction, Korkmaz didn't change his stance.
"As I said, we were throwing punches at each other. It was like a street fight," Korkmaz repeated.
