Euroleague Basketball fines Kaunas for Madrid incident
Last week Euroleague Basketball announced that it would investigate the claims from Spanish giant Real Madrid that its players had been the victim of fan aggression after a Euroleague victory on the road to Zalgiris Kaunas in Lithuania.
Today the independent disciplinary judge for the Turkish Airlines Euroleague has come to a conclusion and found in favour of Real Madrid. The Spanish club had protested that Zalgiris Kaunas fans had been aggressive towards player Rudy Fernandez as the team made its way to the bus after the game on Thursday March 7th.
After assessing the statements of Madrid, Zalgiris, and the local Kaunas police force the independent judge has fined the Lithuanian club €25,000. In his decision the judge considered the following factors:
“The aggressors were arrested, identified and are, apparently, under criminal investigation.”
• “The situation was promptly settled thanks to Real Madrid staff, the arena security and the police forces.”
• “The commitments of Zalgiris Kaunas: a) “the Macius brothers will not be allowed to enter Zalgirio arena anymore and will be banned for life” and b)”Moreover, to avoid any incidents in the future, Zalgiris club in close cooperation with Zalgirio arena security department is going to take the additional measures to prevent any possible incident. The separate entrance for visiting basketball team will be established. It will be separated by the protective fences and additional security guards between the bus and the entrance to arena.”
• “Zalgiris Kaunas has not been sanctioned for similar facts in the course of the current season.”
• “The incident was an isolated action committed by brothers.”
Euroleague Basketball has also taken the added measure of banning the aggressors, Nauris and Normunds Macius, who will now be banned from any event organised and held by Zalgiris Kaunas. It is unclear at this stage whether Zalgiris will attempt an appeal; the club could point to its cooperation in the investigation, but question marks over security that led to the events could scupper any chance of the fine being rescinded.
Euroleague Basketball said in a statement on its website that it “would like to reiterate to all its fans, partners and television broadcasters across the globe who share our values, that the security and well-being is our utmost priority. We will always ensure that the enjoyment of our games is in line with the universal values of the sport. We will have zero tolerance toward violence in Euroleague arenas.”