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Serbia President Calls Out Referees for Overlooking Key Violation by Joel Embiid and Team USA: ‘Tell Us In Advance’
Serbia's President is outraged after referees missed a crucial violation by Joel Embiid during the game against Team USA. The controversy has sparked intense reactions. Read more.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic criticized the officials after referees overlooked a potential travel violation by Joel Embiid during Thursday's semifinal. Embiid and Team USA overcame a 17-point deficit to win 95-91. The Serbians appeared poised for an upset, but a stunning fourth-quarter comeback shifted the game's momentum.
On Friday, Vucic took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to highlight the incident involving Embiid, issuing a strong statement condemning the referees' performance.
"In which country is it not a traveling violation?" Vucic tweeted.
"P.S. Next time, please tell us in advance who we're not allowed to beat.”
Joel Embiid cut Team USA's deficit to 59-49 with a powerful two-handed dunk, closing a 12-point gap and keeping the team competitive at a critical moment. Serbia's coaches and players immediately called for a travel violation, arguing that Embiid moved without releasing the ball, but the referee, possibly obstructed by Jrue Holiday, did not make the call.
Despite this, Serbia maintained a comfortable lead for most of the game, so the missed call likely didn't impact the final outcome. Now, Serbia will face Germany in the bronze medal game at 5 a.m. on Saturday, while Team USA will compete against host nation France for the gold medal at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.
Serbia has lost all three of its games against Team USA this summer, including a 110-84 defeat in group play. Plavšić missed both the group play and semifinal games but participated in Serbia's exhibition game against Team USA before the Olympics, where he scored four points and grabbed one rebound in 13 minutes off the bench. Team USA won that exhibition 105-79.
Key players to watch include Germany's Dennis Schroder and Franz Wagner, with Serbia leaning on Nikola Jokic and Bogdan Bogdanovic. The game is expected to be closely contested, with Serbia slightly favored by 1.5 points and an over/under of 170.5 total points scored.
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