The FIBA World Cup game between Lithuania and France ended in controversy on Saturday after a no-call goal-tending on Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert resulted in a win for the French team.
With 30 seconds remaining in the game and Lithuania trailing by just two points, Jonas Valanciunas stepped to the free-throw line. After making the first attempt, the second free throw rattled around the rim and was eventually batted out by Rudy Gobert.
Although the Jazz big man appeared to touch the rim before making contact with the ball (which would merit a goal-tending call), the referees swallowed their whistles, and elected not to review the play.
France would go on to win the game 78-75, but FIBA has suspended the referee crew in charge after concluding that goal-tending should have been called on the second free-throw attempt:
FIBA has confirmed that Gobert's interference in the closing seconds of France vs Lithuania was illegal. The refs will not call any other World Cup game, but the result stands pic.twitter.com/NKT9NBBi39
— Aris Barkas (@arbarkas) September 8, 2019
The referees of Lithuania – France game will not officiate any more games of the World Cup 2019, FIBA confirmed.
— Donatas Urbonas (@Urbodo) September 8, 2019
Lithuania head coach Dainius Adomaitis lamented the way that the game ended, and iterated that the play should been reviewed, at the very least (via Tim Reynolds of the AP):
“You don’t need to be smart. You need to be honest,” Lithuania coach Dainius Adomaitis said in an emotional news conference after Saturday’s game in Nanjing, China. “Stop the game. Go to watch what’s happened in the game.”
The loss eliminated any chance of the Lithuanian team reaching the quarterfinals. A win would have given them a shot at the final eight pending the result of their game against the Dominican Republic and France's game against Australia.
Instead, the Lithuanian players and coaches will have to exit the tournament on a disappointing note, with little consolation coming from the suspension of the referees.