Previously unseen footage of Liz Cambage’s clash with Nigerian players during the notorious practice match with the Australian national baskeball team has surfaced just days after she was banned from playing for her country ever again.
Cambage walked away from the Opals before the Tokyo OIympics following allegations she called Nigerian players ‘monkey’ and said ‘go back to your own third world country’ in the heated warm-up game in 2021.
The former Opal has denied making those statements and has now said she is in talks to play for Nigeria‘s national team – a claim that has been furiously denied by two of the country’s star basketballers.
In the new footage, Cambage drives her elbow into the face of Nigerian star Victoria Macaulay, then hits another opponent in the face.
Cambage’s teammates don’t rush over to support her by confronting the Nigerian player who smashes her to the ground in the new footage
That second opponent, wearing the No.9 jersey, then sprints over to Cambage as she stands on the sideline and strikes her in the face, knocking her to the ground.
In a telling detail, none of the Opals support their teammate by clashing with the Nigerian star after the hit.
The Australian team crashed out of the Tokyo Olympics in the quarter finals after a bitter divide opened between the players and Cambage over her alleged racist remarks.
She was hit with a formal reprimand by Basketball Australia after the incident was investigated.
Cambage hit back after the new footage surfaced on Wednesday.
‘The circulating video portrays a highly physical game with no officiating, resulting in me being attacked and suffering concussion,’ she said.
‘Before the scrimmage, I had expressed concerns to Opals officials about the unacceptable playing conditions within the Covid “bubble” they were imposing.’
The racism allegations surfaced in 2022, when former Opals skipper Jenna O’Hea claimed accusations that Cambage used the ‘monkey’ and ‘third world’ slurs were ‘100 per cent’ true.
The ex-WNBA star (pictured playing for Australia) has levelled serious accusations at the Opals after head coach Sandy Brondello said she’d never play for the team again
O’Hea went on to say her ex-teammate would never play for Australia again – and was proven correct when Opals coach Sandy Brondello said Cambage will not be considered for selection again because she is ‘too much hard work’.
‘In the Opals program you have to fit in with the culture that we had. Liz did some great things for the Opals, but it was too much hard work near the end, and we don’t need that,’ Brondello said last Friday.
‘We have a short time together and one player can’t overrule the team.’
Cambage responded to her ban from the squad by accusing Opals coaches and players of making racist and ‘inappropriate’ comments towards her.
‘During her stretch with the Opals, Liz expressed concerns about the physical training and particularly raised questions about the medication and steroids given to her/players,’ a spokeswoman for Cambage said in a statement on Monday.
‘Additionally, she faced racial comments and inappropriate behavior from certain teammates and coaches, which unfortunately were not adequately addressed by the team management.’
After once again denying she made the racially charged remarks during the practice game, she asked, ‘Why does Nigeria want me to leave Australia and go represent them?’ in an interview with Bleacher Report.
‘We’re filing for me to leave the Australian team so I can represent Nigeria.
‘I’ve been in cahoots, I’ve been talking with them since all of this happened. This is what I mean, people don’t know the truth.’
The 31-year-old has claimed she’s in talks to play for the Nigerian national team – but that has been branded ‘false’ by basketballer Promise Amukamara
Asked why the racism allegations were levelled at her, she replied: ‘A lot of girls don’t like me.
‘I don’t really lean towards racially backed insults. That’s not how I go, I’m very pro-black.’
Cambage said the accusations have been levelled at her ‘because the truth looks a lot worse for other organisations involved than using me as a scapegoat’.
The 31-year-old was born in London to a Nigerian father and Australian mother, so she could qualify to play for the African country.
Nigerian basketballer Promise Amukamara reacted to Cambage’s claim about representing her country by tweeting: ‘I’m sorry but this is False. Lol.’
‘She called us Monkeys & told us to go back to our country. Yes she said that,’ Amukamara wrote.
‘Literally everyone from both teams have the same story BUT her, so y’all do the math!’