76ers Furkan Korkmaz Breaks His Silence After Being Assaulted by Georgian Players and 30-Security Officers After a Recent EuroBasket Match
Philadelphia 76ers guard Furkan Korkmaz, is currently taking part in the Euro basket tournament. Last night, Korkmaz’s Turkey took on Georgia in what was billed to be an extremely entertaining and close encounter. While the game started off well with both sides attacking well, it soured towards the end as Korkmaz picked up two technical fouls following an altercation with Georgia’s Duda Sanadze.
Never saw this fire under Furkan Korkmazpic.twitter.com/r58IYiASAg
— Paul C (@HurtsyIvania) September 4, 2022
Korkmaz and Sanadze got into an extremely heated argument and had to be separated by their teammates, at this point in time, the crowd also got involved and started throwing items onto the court. In the end, Georgia beat Turkey 88-83 in double overtime. However, Turkey has officially protested the outcome of the game, claiming that 22 seconds were taken off the clock in the final period.
Unfortunately, reports from Korkmaz and his camp have cast a dark shadow over the result and sportsmanship in general from the Georgians. It was revealed that while Korkmaz was walking back to the dressing room, he was attacked by Georgian players and security guards.
Furkan Korkmaz breaks his silence
Korkmaz shared what happened with the media in a recent interview. He said, “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.”
Furkan Korkmaz about Sanadze: First he started talking shit to me, I am not anybody to talk shit on my face. İ reacted as a human being, as a man, I just showed reaction.
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) September 5, 2022
Korkmaz continued, “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.”
Following the incident, the Turkish federation Vice President Omer Onan told the media that he reached out to the FIBA to take a look at the matter and threatened to leave the tournament altogether if no action was taken against the Georgian team.
Korkmaz is set to enter his second year of a three-year $15 million deal with the 76ers this fall. Furkan Korkmaz averaged 7.6 points and 2.6 rebounds last season with the 76ers.
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