Batum blames basketball punch up on Spain-Brazil game
Published: 09 Aug 2012 09:57 GMT+02:00 | Print version
Updated: 09 Aug 2012 09:57 GMT+02:00
French Olympic basketball player Nicolas Batum, after punching a Spanish player yesterday, has attacked the Spanish team once again - this time on Twitter.
The six foot six 23-year-old took to the social networking site to excuse his behaviour, and blame it on Spain’s performance against Brazil on Monday night.
“The Spanish lost against Brazil on purpose. Is that really in the Olympic spirit,” Batum reportedly tweeted.
“That’s why it’s so frustrating. When I saw their match against Brazil, I said to myself: ‘OK, this time we’ll get them’.”
The tweets seem to have been deleted since being reported in French press.
Batum also used the 140 characters to apologise, in English and French, for his violent behaviour (see video below) towards Spanish player Juan-Carlos Navarro.
“I want to apologize for my stupid act at the end, I showed a bad image of France and myself, Congrats to team Spain.”
After throwing the punch, Batum told reporters in the stadium: “I wanted to give him a good reason not to make it [losing] up this time.”
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