The basketball brawl happened during a friendly game between Team China and visiting Brazil. The fighting erupted at the end of the first quarter in which China was leading comfortably. Thousands of Chinese netizens watched the fighting video on the Internet and called it a night of shame.

The game had been extremely physical from the start. Chinese players were dissatisfied with a couple of referee calls. They especially disputed over the light punishment of a Brazilian player who hurt a Chinese player's head in a strong clash.

The tense situation then escalated as China coach Bob Donewald received his second technical foul for complaining about the referee's decision.

Things went downhill from there. Off the rebound, Zhu Fangyu ran and leveled a Brazilian player. That triggered the first group fight which lasted for 40 seconds.

The debacle cooled down briefly when Brazil walked off the court. However, the defiance of some Brazilian players irritated Chinese players again which led to a more furious fight.

The brawl finally ended when Brazil abandoned the game.

China's coach blamed the mess on Brazil.

This was not the first instance of violence involving China's basketball team. In 2001 and 2005, fighting broke out in games against Lebanon and Puerto Rico.

Training suspended for national team

At a press conference held by the National Basketball Association Wednesday afternoon, vice Chairman Li Jinsheng made an official apology to the Brazilian side and all the basketball fans. The decision to suspend training of all team members was also announced at the press conference.

Training suspension for national team
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