The Spanish referee Antonio Conde, the Argentine referee Leandro Lezcano, and the Venezuelan referee Daniel Alberto García will not officiate any more games in the remaining matches of the Basketball World Cup in China after their mistake in the Lithuania-France match.
The FIBA, after reviewing the video of the game played on Saturday, believes that the refereeing trio made an error by not awarding a point to Lithuania.
The organization has confirmed that with 30.8 seconds left, a free throw by Jonas Valanciunas was touched by Frenchman Rudy Gobert clearly interfering with the hoop.
In a statement released on Sunday, FIBA believes that the correct decision by the referees should have been to call interference and award the point to Lithuania, thus tying the score at 76.
"The referees of this game will not officiate any more games in the 2019 World Cup," the statement concludes regarding the controversial incident in a match that ended with a 78-75 victory for France (followed by a basket from Nando de Colo) and a great indignation from the Lithuanians, who were eliminated with this defeat, while France and Australia secured their quarter-final qualification. EFE