MANILA, Philippines—Australia has apologized for its role in the bench-clearing brawl that marred the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifier between the Boomers and Gilas Pilipinas at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan on Monday.

The visiting Boomers won the game by default, 89-53, with 1:57 left in the third quarter after the host nation was left with just one player – point guard Baser Amer.

The melee started with some four minutes to go in the third frame, when Gilas guard Roger Pogoy crashed into an Australian player and was about to be whistled for an offensive foul. In the ensuing dead-ball situation, Australia’s Daniel Kickert tagged him with a blindside hit.

Jayson Castro retaliated on Pogoy’s behalf, launching himself off the ground for a punch. It was chaos from there, as virtually every member of the Gilas team spilled onto the court. Nine Philippine players were ejected, with Amer, June Mar Fajardo, and Gabe Norwood the only ones left available.

Four Boomers were also thrown out.

In a statement, Anthony Moore, the chief executive of Basketball Australia, said the organization “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,” he added. “This is not the spirit in which sport should be played and certainly not in the spirit in which we aim to play basketball.”

"We apologize to our fans and will await the penalties to be handed down.”

The Australian players were available to the media after the game, and exited the venue via a different route.

FIBA has already announced that it is opening disciplinary proceedings against both the Philippines and Australia.

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