Liz Cambage called Nigerian players “monkeys” during a brutal five-minute crisis in Las Vegas that led the basketball superstar to leave her Australian Opals teammates ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
A special investigation by the Sunday Telegraph has yielded a video that clearly shows Cambage elbowing his Nigerian opponent during a closed-door training match in Las Vegas that triggered a shocking chain of events.
In the ensuing chaos, Cambage slaps another Nigerian player and racially insults the entire African team, labeling them “monkeys” and telling them to “return to your third world country”.
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The embarrassing officials of the Australian team were forced to suspend the training match before the end of the second quarter.
Nigerian players who spoke with this special investigation on the condition that their identities not be revealed have stated that they heard Cambage say “return to your third world country” and called them “monkeys”.
“That’s what I remember, the term monkeys, yes. and back where you come from, “said a Nigerian player.” He definitely used monkeys or monkeys. “
A Nigerian player reacts after being hit. Source: Supplied
Another player told this investigation: “He was on the court. He definitely said you should go back to your third world country. I didn’t hear it, but (teammates) confirmed that he told us monkeys.”
He Sunday Telegraph The investigation also revealed that Cambage told Nigerian players before the training match that he wanted to play in Nigeria because his Australian teammates were racist.
An Opals player who attended the Las Vegas field in June last year said Cambage’s outburst pushed the team to the breaking point and it was the drop that was placed. .
“There had been so many behavioral problems that had occurred before that we could have written a book, but that (Vegas) incident was the final drop that was the worst.”
Cambage, a Nigerian father, apologized to the African national team a day later, but was not well received by all players.
“I think it was shit. I don’t think it was a sincere apology,” said a Nigerian player.
Another player believes Cambage showed no remorse.
“Even though she’s Australian, we knew she was half Nigerian, so before she was like one of us.
“That was another thing to cut deep, so she would do it and show no remorse.”
The Australian and Nigerian players decided to break their silence after Cambage pointed out his former Opals teammates in a recent interview with ABC Sport.
Cambage, who now plays for the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA, said in a pre-season media event that he now felt “protected to a level that the Opals, or the Australian team, never gave me,” and he said he had never heard of it. the Opals wanted it to be “the best it could be.”
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