Colombian Basketball Federation denies national squad was defeated by local Russian team

The Colombian Basketball Federation (FCB) has denied that its national team was taking part in Russia’s Fonbet Friendship Cup in Russia’s Ural region city of Perm, after seeing reports that its national team had been trounced by a local Russian basketball team. 

Perm club Parma’s “crushing victory” by more than 100 points over the Colombian national team as part of the local Fonbet Friendship Cup, was reported by Russian sports news website Championat on Wednesday.

However, the FCB issued a statement saying that it had not received an invitation to take part in the tournament and had therefore not attended the competition. The organisation also pledged to take legal action against those responsible for the unauthorised use of the Colombian national team’s image and logo.

The Russian Basketball Federation (RBF) reacted to the FCB’s statement by saying that “the match involving the team declared as the Colombian national team was organised in full compliance with official documents and confirmations”.

“All communications and interactions with the Colombian Basketball Federation were carried out through official channels, which eliminates any doubt about the legitimacy of this team’s participation in the tournament,” the RBF added.

On the official RBF webpage for the Friendship Cup, none of the players listed as playing for the Colombian team have photos, and some of the players have their date of birth listed as 1 January 1900.