She decided to denounce.
Not to let the unacceptable pass.
Tuesday evening, during the women's Euroleague basketball match between Asvel and the Romanian club Sepsi SIC, Gabby Williams was the victim of an inappropriate gesture.
While the French international (35 caps) was near the opposing bench, the coach, the Bosnian Zoran Mikes, allegedly put a hand on her buttocks.
The 27-year-old player recounted the scene she suffered on her X account (formerly Twitter) after the match, won 94-77 by her club Asvel: “The opposing coach decided to slap my butt during the match.
I told him not to touch me and his assistants started shouting at me.”
The player then decided to report these actions to the refereeing body to request sanctions.
The latter would unfortunately have put the scene into perspective.
“I asked a referee if he (
the coach
) could touch me and he (
the referee
) told me yes (
because
) he was calm,” she wrote.
fiba's investigating it so I'll let them take it from here.
apparently he has been problematic all year smh…
— gabby williams 👻 (@gabbywilliams15) January 30, 2024
A publication that she subsequently withdrew.
But if Williams removed her post, the matter is far from over since she has decided to file a complaint and contact FIBA (
the International Basketball Federation
) in order to open an investigation into this coach who would be a regular of these slippages.
He would have regularly engaged in “problematic behavior” according to our information.
The bronze medalist at the Tokyo Games in 2021, author of a titanic match and MVP of the match (26 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 interceptions), received a lot of support on social networks.
This Wednesday the Asvel club confirmed in a press release the opening of an investigation.
“At the end of this Tuesday evening's meeting at the Astroballe, LDLC ASVEL Féminin made a report to the match delegate concerning the behavior of the opposing coach towards Gabby Williams.
Our club now has full confidence in FIBA which has taken up this matter.
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