Russian basketball team facing lawsuit from Colombia for allegedly posing as its national team
Colombia's basketball federation said it will be taking legal action against an independent basketball team in Russia that allegedly used the name and uniforms of Colombia's national team.
The team is playing in a tournament, the Russian Friendship Cup, in the city of Perm. The tournament includes teams of Russian amateurs that are unofficially representing various national teams. The Colombian federation claims it never allowed a team in the tournament to use its likeness.
"The Colombian Basketball Federation did not grant endorsement to any club to participate in the Russian Friendship Cup," the organization said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the president of the Russian basketball federation, former NBA player Andrei Kirilenko, claims the team did coordinate with the Colombian government on private channels and did nothing improper.
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Retired Russian-American basketball player Andrei Kirilenko attends the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 draw ceremony at Shenzhen Bay Arena March 16, 2019, in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province of China. (Visual China Group via Getty Images)
"We would like to emphasize that all our interactions with the Colombian team took place exclusively through official communication channels," Kirilenko told Match TV. "Our position remains unchanged: All communications and coordination are conducted only through verified and official sources."
The team posing as Colombia has been one of the worst-performing teams in the tournament thus far. It was blown out 155-53 by a local squad before losing 108-57 to Venezuela. The team's next game was scheduled to be against Russia Friday, but the game has been canceled.
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Kirilenko says the cancellation is due to the fact the team has performed so poorly that the schedule must be revised to account for the disparity with other teams.
Colombia's basketball players stand on the podium with their silver medals in the men's basketball team event during the Pan American Games Santiago 2023 at the Polideportivo 1 in the National Stadium Sports Park in Santiago Nov. 4, 2023. (Ernesto Benavides/AFP via Getty Images)
"After the first game, we understand that the current level of the Colombian team is lagging behind what was expected, which causes some disappointment for all of us," Kirilenko said. "In this regard, we have already revised the schedule and format of the tournament to ensure a more balanced and competitive competition."
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The incident is just the latest in a series of recent punishments levied against Russian athletes and sports institutions.
Russia was barred from being represented at the recent Paris Olympics due to the country's invasion of Ukraine coming just four days after the end of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The invasion violated the Olympic Truce, a resolution that calls for all nations to lay down arms and not engage in conflict, starting one week before the Olympics begin and ending one week after their conclusion.
Ukrainian forces fight during military operations in Malaya Loknya, Kursk Region, Russia, in this screen grab obtained from a handout video released Aug. 20, 2024. (Air Assault Brigade/Handout via Reuters)
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva had her gold medal from Beijing stripped after it was revealed she tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned drug that prevents angina, at the Russian national championships in December 2021. Valieva was found guilty of committing an anti-doping rule violation in January, her team was disqualified and the gold was later presented to the U.S. in Paris more than two years after the initial event.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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