This archive report was first published on 9 September 2019.
On September 7, 2019, Lithuania's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking defeat to France in the World Cup, thanks in part to a crucial mistake by match officials.
The error occurred with France leading 76-75 and just 30.8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. French player Rudy Gobert touched the rim while the ball was in contact with it, but the officials failed to call a basket interference and award one point to Lithuania.
According to FIBA, the correct decision should have been to call a basket interference and award one point to Lithuania. As a result, the officials of the game, Antonio Conde (Spain), Daniel Nieves (Venezuela), and Leandro Lezcano (Argentina), will not officiate any more games of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Lithuania's coach, Dainius Adomaitis, was furious about the mistake and lashed out at FIBA in a post-match press conference. He swore and slapped the table, saying, 'Ask questions to FIBA, why are you asking me?' and 'This is a joke, this is not basketball.'
Despite the controversy, the result of the match stands, and France has moved into the quarter-finals at Lithuania's expense.
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