Shanxi fined 60,000 yuan for crowd trouble

CBA decides to move the decisive Game 5 in Beijing back to Sunday

The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) fined the Shanxi Brave Dragons and the local organizing committee 60,000 yuan ($9,478) on Tuesday after reckless fan behavior during the semifinal game against the Beijing Ducks on Sunday.

To show its displeasure at some controversial refereeing calls during the fourth quarter of Game 4 in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, the home crowd started to throw debris onto the court and forced officials to halt play with 52 seconds left and Shanxi leading 102-100.

To further show their dissatisfaction, a large group of fans trapped the Ducks' bus after the game and attacked the vehicle following an alleged fracas between Beijing guard Stephon Marbury and a local fan.

Officials from the CBA stressed the fine was only implemented for the on-court troubles. Whether further punishment will be imposed for the post-game chaos has yet to be decided as a local police investigation is still under way.

"Due to poor security measures, some local fans trapped the bus, blocking its way out of the venue. That's a wrongdoing," Bai Xilin, director of the CBA's competitions department said, at a press conference to announce the penalty on Tuesday.

"If Marbury punched the fan or not, the local police department is investigating the truth. Once the final result comes out, the CBA will invoke further punishment according to the relative rules."

According to CBA regulations, the league has the mandate to cancel any host city's right to stage games if fans throwing litter onto the court leads to breaks in play more than twice in a season, said a CCTV report on Tuesday.

In the regular season, the Brave Dragons were punished twice for such offences - against Liaoning Jiebao on Dec 23 and Guangdong Southern Tigers on Feb 12.

The club was also warned by the league after some of its fans performed "improper acts" during Marbury's free-throw attempts in Game 1 of the semis on March 4.

According to a poll on the league's official website, 6,432 voters, or 80 percent of the participants, said the punishment was "too light" on Tuesday night.

"We accept the fine and will educate our players and fans to respect the officiating in future games. Meanwhile, we will try to guide the fans' reactions positively and strengthen security measures around the venue," Li Zhensheng, deputy director of the Shanxi provincial sports bureau, told sohu.com.

The Ducks' general manager, Yuan Chao, who appeared at the press conference, said the club would support the league's actions and would work with local police to provide a safe Game 5 at home.

To reinforce security measures, the CBA has decided to postpone Game 5, which was supposed to be played at 7:30 at the Shougang Stadium on Wednesday, to this Sunday at the same time.

Meanwhile, local media reported the Brave Dragons' owner, Wang Xingjiang, said he would instigate another scuffle in Beijing if his team faced "unfair calls" in Game 5, and posted a recording of Wang's statement online.

He later said he didn't mean his comments.

"I was talking with my friends in the locker room after the game. Maybe I said something like that, but it was just some angry words that shouldn't count. And I didn't notice that there was a journalist beside us," Wang said on the club's official micro blog.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn