Sociological Analysis: Violence in Boomers vs. Philippines Game

This essay provides a sociological analysis of the violent incident that occurred during the Boomers vs. Philippines basketball game in July 2018. The essay examines the context of sports violence in Australia, describing the events of the game, including the brawl between players and the unruly behavior of spectators. It explores the responses of key personnel, such as Basketball Australia's chief executive and the Filipino coach, to the incident, highlighting their reactions and statements. The essay further investigates the impact of the violence on various stakeholders, including players, fans, sponsors, and the government, discussing the consequences such as injuries, disruptions to the game, and reputational damage. The analysis draws on sociological concepts to understand the causes and implications of violence in sports, offering insights into the dynamics of player behavior, fan culture, and the broader societal context surrounding the event. The essay concludes by emphasizing the negative effects of violence on the sport and the need for measures to prevent such incidents in the future.

Sociology
Violence between Boomers and Philippines basketball teams (July 2018).
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Sociology
Introduction
Generally, sports are the basic features of Australian culture. Different findings indicate that the
achievement of sports in Australia has enhanced the entire image of the nation (Birzniece,2015.
P.56). Basically, participation in sporting activities in most of the times contributes to the health
of many people in Australia. All the terms and conditions attributed to teamwork and fair games
played by the Australians helps them in playing good games which forms the basis for the good
society. Despite playing good games Australia field of sports is characterized by a number of
shortcomings (Brackenridge, Kay & Rhind,2012 p.65).
The paper tries to explain an issue which occurred in Australian field showing how Australian
field of sports is affected by different shortcomings. Whilst, the sporting activities in Australia
tend to experience sporting violence. The degree of violence extends to both participants in the
games and also the spectators. The issue of sporting violence in Australia remains as an aspect of
concern. Reports show how violence in playing grounds brings an impression of bad example to
Australians and also to the entire world. Most of the times violence in sports in Australia starts
from unruly crowds which have bad behaviors that tend to spoil the image of the country in
terms of sports (Bragg, Roberto, Harris, Brownell & Elbel, 2018 p.134).
The issue of violence in games occurs in some matches whereby the major source of violence
starts from the participants who don't accept a defeat. The increasing rate of violence in Australia
has created awareness thus demanding the appropriate stakeholders to take control (Cameron,
Cochrane, Gordon & Livingston, 2016 p.189).The National Committee on the Violence knows
the importance of sports to the country and also to its citizen and that's why it has selected the
Brian Wenn of the Australian Sports Commission to control the aspect of violence in sports in
Australia. The Sports Committee believes that players and spectators can uphold integrity in

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fields but not being violent. On another hand, the government also knows the importance of
sports to the country and it has started handling all the cases related to violence in sports. The
entire discussion will include a clear description of a current issue related to sports in Australia,
how the organization has responded to the issue and also how relevant stakeholders in Australia
have reacted to the issue of violence in sports as evident in Australia (Casey, Harvey, Eime &
Payne, 2012 p.95).
Description of the issue
The issues selected for discussion is based on violence on playing fields. The issue is on how
Boomers and Philippines basketball match was erupted by violence in Australia. The wild brawl
has seen Australia's FIBA World Cup qualifying clash with the Philippines after the match was
abandoned when 13 players were removed from the field (Darcy, Lock & Taylor, 2017
p.123).During the game, tension raised four minutes remaining to end the match with all players
and the official from both teams and a number of unruly spectators who flooded in the pitch
causing a scene of violence in the stadium. During the game, the Boomers had a victory of 79-48
before the whole scene was flooded by kicks and rampant violence. The violence occurred
immediately when Philippines guard Roger Ray Pogoy had lashed out the Australians Chris with
an errant elbow within the court. This incidence raised chaos in the pitch as the referee did not
take any attempt to halt the match (Fasting, Chroni, Hervik & Knorre, 2011 p.34). There was no
foul was given to the Australian team thus causing the unruly fans to turn everything in the scene
of violence. The Boomer player Daniel Kickerts retaliation on the Pogoy sparked everything in
the court. After the incidence, the commentator for the match that is the Matt Russell was heard
describing the whole incidence as "sickening incidence” since it included elbows, punches, use
of objects and also kicks which were hurled to the players and other officials in the court.

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The reports indicate that the game was interrupted for more than 30 minutes as the referees were
seen assessing the situation and eventually the game was conducted in ridiculous fashion. Three
Philippines players returned to the match and they found themselves playing against the five
players from Australia team (Fleming, Gruskin, Rojo & Dworkin, 2015 p.38).
How key personnel approached the issue
After the incidence, the Basketball Australia on social media indicated that all players from the
Boomers team were safe and they were well and in good condition after the incident. Different
findings indicate that the rules and policies of a game that is international rules argue that games
should continue unless a team has only one player who is available in the pitch (Galtung &
Fischer, 2013 p.20).The Filipino player later fouled themselves and they were out of the game
which the official also described it as a call off before the third quarter in the league. There was a
number official who discussed the entire issue in Australia. Some of the stakeholders who argued
on the incidence were the Basketball chief executive known as the Anthony Moore. The official
sent short statement after the incidence which stated that "Basketball Australia deeply regrets the
incident in tonight's match between the Boomers and the Philippines in Manila. We are
extremely disappointed with what happened and our role in it," Moore also argued that was not
the spirit for sports and it was not the spirit for playing basketball in Australia (García-Moreno et
al., 2015 p.23).The chief executive went on and apologized for that misconduct and apologized
on behalf of the fans and told the fans to await further penalties to be imposed by the
international charter for Basketball. Moore also reported that players were to return to the hotel
following morning to confirm whoever was injured during the incidence. In addition, he said that
the priority was to keep all players safe and the International Basketball Federation will respond

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as quickly as possible to offer the punishments to whoever was concerned with the violence
(Goldstein, 2012 p.175).
On another hand the public news continued to explain the issue whereby news in every channel
in Australia started by this statement, "Following the incident that occurred in the third quarter of
the Philippines-Australia game on Monday in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian
Qualifiers, FIBA will now open disciplinary proceedings against both teams," This was followed
by another comment which indicated that further "The decision(s) will be communicated in the
coming days. “The entire society and the whole country was in shock as the fans were waiting
for a big penalty since it was the most disgraceful incidence to have ever been experienced in
Australia (Grix & Carmichael,2012 p.221).
In addition, the chief executive for Basketball in Australia added that there were no signs prior to
the game showing any possibility of violence. Moore said there was "nothing prior to the game"
that would suggest ill-will between the teams. "It was a tough and physical encounter and our
games against the Philippines typically are," Moore said. "We played them in February as part of
the qualifying window "And we know that they're always competitive and physical games, but
there was nothing prior to this incident that you could say that it was a niggle here and a niggle
there." (Hanna, Kjellstrom, Bennett & Dear, 2011 p.32).
On another hand, the Filipino couch Chot Reyes defended his players for the involvement of the
bowl and said that the Australian player knowns as the Kickert was provoking some abusive
words to their opponents before the game started. The coach tried as much as possible to prove
how the Philippine team was innocent during this incidence. Reyes in his statements indicated
that "[The brawl] is absolutely unacceptable but the reality is Kickert was hitting our players
during the warm-ups," The coach also added and said it was up to FIBA to decide what would

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happen to his players, but they would accept those consequences. "It is what it is, but the one
thing you have to know about this team is we're not going to back down," he said. "We already
restrained the players before the game … when Kickert did all of those things at the start,
during the warm-up we told them 'we're not going to punch him, focus on the game’. “When he
did that in the third quarter, it's hard to restrain them anymore. "Reyes was no happy at all
(Hayhurst, 2014 p.23). He blamed the Australians player for their bad behavior and he said that
they could not have loosed the match if it were not for this chaos in the pitch.
Impact of the violence to key stakeholders
The incidence affected both the fans and players in Australia. We all know that every bad
behavior has its repercussions. Violence in games results in a lot of things. Some of the effects of
the violence from the game were;
There were increased injuries since a number of fans were seen using chairs and other objects to
fight their opponents in the court (Hemphill & Symons, 2014 p.23).
The violence affected the morale for the game thus causing the referee to halt the match until
further communication.
The Australian was to bear the strict discipline measures from the International Board of
Basketball.
The violence affected the image of supporters and the sponsors who were supporting the two
teams.
Violence also affected the entire government and also the entire sphere of basketball sports in
Australia (Inoue, Berg & Chelladurai, 2015 p.27).

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Lastly, the issue led to a reduced number of fans. This meant that both two teams lose a large
number of fans since no one wanted to be associated with those teams which had chaos.
First and foremost violence from the fans disrupts the entire progress of the game. This means
that both teams were to stop playing and then further implications were to be communicated.
Disrupting the game basically means interrupting the entire calendar of the teams (Kay & Spaaij,
2012 p.267). This, therefore, shows that violence first affects the team whereby its schedules will
be disrupted and thus subjecting the team to fix another time for the match although this depends
on the rule passed by the International body for sports. The Australian team was to wait for
communication from the International Basketball Management which was to give direction on
what to do depending on the seriousness of the incidence.
In addition violence in sports reduces the morale of the match. This, in turn, affects the fans
meaning that they tend to withdraw their morale form the team (Kingsland,
Wiggers,Vashum,Hodder & Wolfenden, 2016 p.43). Aggressive teams will lack adequate fans
because no fan wants to be associated with the team causing chaos every time it is playing. This
shows that violence in sports is bad behavior and any team or fans which practice it should stop
with an immediate impact. Violence is a byproduct of insecurity and no fan want to waste time-
fighting for nothing. In addition violence in sports causes injuries. During the incidence large
number of fans were injured with a few players incurring minor injuries. This occurred as some
fans from Australia started using chair and throwing object aimlessly. Violence on its own
results to deaths and injuries. When fans start fighting for their teams it becomes too difficult to
calm the situation and this results in huge injuries which to some extent results to deaths and
severe injuries.

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The other section which was affected by the incidence of violence was the government
(O’Meara, Witherspoon, Hapangama & Hyam,2011 p.432). Generally, the Australian
government gets tax from sports activities within the country. This means that a large number of
stadiums are paying adequate tax for Australia government. When the incidence occurred it
indicated that the number of fans for the two teams will reduce thus affecting the overall income
received from the team in Australia. A large number of fans withdrew their interest from the
team and they joined another team which they believed were better and had no cases of violence.
This, in turn, reduced the overall income received by the club and at the same time affected the
tax received by the Australian government from the club.
In addition, the violence affected the sponsors of the two clubs. Both clubs had sponsors and
supporters and through the scandal, the overall image was ruined. The supporters and sponsors
most of the times to tend to withdraw their support from those teams which are associated with
aspects of violence and other bad behavior from either fans or the players of the teams
(Hapangama & Hyam,2012. P.43). Current reports have indicated how sponsors and supporters
have withdrawn their support from those teams are associated with bad behavior and also those
players are associated with bad behaviors such as the issue of doping which is facing a large
number of athletes in the industry of sports.
Theories relevant to the issue
The section reveals how the issue of public relation played a role in handling the scandal
experienced by the two teams. Also, the part includes how the organization applied the
appropriate theories which describe the issue of violence in sports.

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Some of the theories which were believed to have been used by the participants to induce the
issue of violence in the match were;
The biological theory.
The theory tries to reveal how the violence incurred during the game. The biological theory on
its own suggests that violence is the fundamental aspect which is inherent to human behavior.
The theory shows the basis on which most of the violence in sports do occur. The theory argues
that most of the time fans and players can discharge violence so as disrupt the game (Ostrowsky,
2014 p.1780. In addition, the theory shows how sports are the acceptable ways through which
players do release the aggression or steam that has been pent up in them. Also, through the
theory, we tend to understand that people do engage in sports since it helps people to vent out the
aggression in them. Therefore, what happened in the field is clearly connected to what is
described by the theory when it comes to violence in sports. The two players which had scandals
fully corresponds to what is being described by the theory whereby the violence was used to
release the vent up aggression which was within them prior to the match as described by the
Philippine coach.
Psychological theory.
The other theory which articulates the relevance of violence in sports was the psychological
theory. The theory on its own describes that most of the times violence in sports is as a result of
dissatisfaction (Parent & Bannon, 2012 p.489). This shows that violence in sports is as a result of
the situation whereby the two teams started fighting when the two players fouled and yet the
referee could not see the situation. Through this theory, the issue of frustration build up the
players and the fans who start fighting to release their frustration. The theory describes

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frustration as a dubious aspect which most of the time starts from sports officials who may fail to
halt the game when a certain mistake occurs. Most of the injuries which occur in the games are
as a result of ineffectiveness associated with officials thus allowing bad behavior from the
spectators to control everything in the field. Therefore, the theory concludes by indicating that
violence in sports is as a result of emotion which comes from either the spectators or the players
in the field when officials fail to control the game appropriately (Ratcliffe,2012 p.34).For
example, most of the matches where the referee will emphasize winning without nothing less,
then the issue of frustration accrue and if players to achieve the aim of referee then the entire
incidence may trigger violence to occur thus disturbing the entire rhythm of the match.
Therefore, the overall psychological sphere of the player comprises a key role in preventing the
occurrence of violence in sports.
Social learning theory.
The other part of the theory explaining the crisis is the social learning theory. The theory
suggests that the issue of violent starts as a result of learning. In the field of sports, the young
players will emulate the behaviors of their heroes and as a result, they will tend to do what is
being done by the heroes. Through the learning process, players can copy some violent behavior
exhibited by the players in the field. Therefore, this theory suggests that violence in sports most
of the times occurs as a result of what players have been learning from their mentors in the field
of sports. This suggests that the environment can influence players' behavior and in turn affecting
their emotions when in the field. This theory also shows how spectators can indulge themselves
in violence when watching the players (Ratcliffe, 2012 p.190). Emulating the behavior of players
while in the field shows the issue of identification meaning that whatever happens to one of the
players may subject fans to react in any manner. Also, the perception of the opponents as the

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enemy may catalyze the issue of violence in sports. The hostility between teams due to different
supporters and ethnicities may cause some tension which in turn may result in violence. In
addition, the theory shows that violence in sports may arise when for example a certain player in
the teams portrays a very aggressive style when playing. When a player is more aggressive to his
or her opponents and the officials in the game not taking any action, the fans may react and
support aggression by engaging in aggressive behaviors as well. This most of the time causes
tension in the pitch and it may lead to violence since some fans may feel that their player not
fully cared for by the referee when gaming. As seen in our scandal the Australian player was
involved in the violence. The theory supports this concept whereby it explains how violence
starts from the players in the field during the game. This shows that violence in sports by players
is often vented on the opposing players as seen in basketball case in our paper. The learning
theory shows that the punishment given to aggressive players in the field may influence the
occurrence or absence of violence in the sports. In our case the match officials were ineffective
and they didn't notice anything that happened to Philippines player but the fans noticed and
reacted seriously to the matter. The incidence done by the Boomers player had negative impacts
on Philippines fans thus causing violence which interrupted the game (Ratcliffe, 2012 p.190).
Management of crisis
How effectively the crisis was managed
The section reveals how Australia managed the issue after their team was found guilty of starting
violence in the field. There were measures formulated to prevent future cases of violence in the
field. The Australia Basketball issued the policies to adhere to in order to solve the issue. The
Australia Basketball tried to follow the three theories described above explaining why the
violence occurred in the sports. Basketball Australia had to formulate policies which targeted on

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correcting the issue of violence in sports (Rowland, Allen & Toumbourou, 2012 p.48).The
policies made were related to management policies of handling grievances within the workplace
which has three strategies for handling violence. Some of the procedures and recommendations
used to handle the crisis of Boomers and Philippines basketball was;
Creating a policy that will prevent harassment in the field.
The Australian Basketball Committee realized that one of the Boomers players harassed the
Philippines player prior to the game. This indicated that Boomer Basketball ball was the major
cause of chaos and there was a need to come up with a policy that could create awareness on
effects of harassment from the players to their opponents in Australia. The policy was to be
distributed to all clubs and officials including coaches to ensure no other scandal to be
experienced.
Creating an effective line of communication.
Generally, the main issue of settling the violence is determined by the degree of communication.
The Australian Basketball committee decided that there was a need to communicate with the two
teams after a short time (Sønderlund et al., 2014 p.59). The committee encouraged coaches to
communicate with players when there is tension in the game. This was to ensure that players will
not become aggressive when playing thus reducing the cases of violence in the sports. The
Australian Basketball Committee encouraged the team leaders or the captains to always
communicate with the teammates to identify whether there is any issue facing them prior to the
game. The committee agreed that if all the players had communicated about the harassment from
one of the players in the Boomers team then the violence could not have occurred.
Training the players and creating awareness on the need to prevent violence in sports.