Banned from international competitions since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian national team has had few opportunities to play against other nations. To allow its best players to play together, the Federation has decided to create a tournament: the Friendship CupThis year, the four-team tournament included the Perm club, which is hosting the competition, the Russian national team, Colombia and Venezuela.
So far, nothing exceptional… Except that on the first day, Perm crushed the so-called Colombian national team by 102 points, 155-42 with a 41-2 in the first quarter! Inevitably, such a score perplexed the organizers. And the second meeting of the Colombian team, beaten 108-52 against Venezuela, 108-52, confirmed the suspicions. To the point that Russia canceled its meeting against the so-called Colombian team.
“After the first match, we understood that the current level of the Colombian team was below what was expected, which causes some disappointment for all of us”, explained Andrei Kirilenkothe President of the Russian Federation. “In this regard, we have already modified the schedule and format of the tournament to ensure a more balanced and competitive competition.”
In fact, the Colombian team was not excluded from the tournament but it played its last match against a regional U18 selection, and the Colombians lost by 36 points!
The work of a Colombian student
Via a press release, the Colombian Federation also spoke out about the fraud, stating that it was not the national team and that legal action would be taken.
“1. The Colombian Basketball Federation has never received an official invitation to participate in the Friendship Cup. 2. The Colombian Basketball Federation has not authorized any club or training center in the country to participate in the Friendship Cup. 3. The Colombian Basketball Federation will take legal action for improper use of its image or logo without prior authorization.
It turns out that it was all a hoax, since European Basketball reports that the Colombian team was made up of only amateurs, since he was not the coach of the national team and no player had known the selection before this meeting.
Andrei Kirilenko and the Russian Federation were deceived by an architecture student from Kazan University. The email used by the so-called Colombian Federation allegedly belonged to this student born in Bogota, who even played during the tournament. Simply by email, this student had obtained from the Russian Federation tickets for the 20 people constituting the fake Colombian team, accommodation in a hotel, and travel to Perm.
