07/07/2008
Le Quai 54, ended in controversy on Sunday as the reigning champs - Sean Bell All-Stars, from New York - walked out of the final. That gave victory to French team "La Fusion" - which featured former Nike Battlegrounds world champion Amara Sy.
Europe's top streetball tournament, Le Quai 54, ended in controversy on Sunday as the reigning champs - Sean Bell All-Stars, from New York - walked out of the final, complaining about biased officiating.
That gave victory to French team "La Fusion" - which featured former Nike Battlegrounds world champion Amara Sy.
The drama began in the semi finals, when Sean Bell's coach (below) kicked up a stink at half time.
He claimed the French organisers didn't want his U.S. team to win the Parisien tournament again...and that refs had been briefed to call the game in the opposition's favour.
To appease him, the tournament bosses changed the refs for the second half...and the team from Queen's went on to win and book a spot in the final.
However, he complained about the same "conspiracy" in the showpiece game too. This time, the organisers simply weren't going to have it...and neither was he...so he rounded up his troops and walked off the court to a loud chorus of boos...but cheering from Amara and his team mates.
This isn't the first time a U.S. team has walked out of Quai 54. A few years back, Fat Joe's Terror Squad team quit the tournament after feeling they weren't getting the calls they should have.
The incident was the only real blot on an otherwise fantastic tournament - about which we'll have more reports, pictures and video soon.
The only other downer was the fact that the UK's Midnight Madness team fell at the quarter final hurdle for the third straight year.
After crushing a German squad in the first game, the guys were confident of at least making the semis (as were we). However, a poor second half performance against "Gunz" saw the British guys lose by three (after Olu Babolola's last second attempt to tie the game with a three pointer missed).
