Fans Cry Foul Over Officiating in France Win Over Japan

Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert and the French Olympic basketball team came out on top with a group stage win over Japan on Tuesday, claiming a 94-90 overtime victory.

France needed late-game heroics in order to thwart the Japanese upset attempt. And according to many fans on social media, they also needed some help from the Olympic officiating team.

Japanese star Rui Hamchimura was ejected early in the fourth quarter after his second unsportsmanlike foul call. The Los Angeles Lakers forward had 24 points at the time of his ejection.

With Japan leading 84-80, French guard Matthew Strazel connected on a game-tying four-point play with just over 10 seconds remaining in regulation. Fans flooded social media with reactions to what many felt was a soft foul call on the three-point attempt.

Many fans accused the referees of fixing the game in France's favor.

"This Japan/France game is an amazing war but everyone on Japan should feel cheated man that wasn’t a foul at the end of regulation and Rui didn’t deserve to be ejected," one wrote.

"That was one of the most rigged games I’ve ever watched in my life. The refs have to bail out France against Japan ofc," another added.

"France needed the refs just to beat Japan. That was insanely fixed if you actually watched the game," another said.

"France vs Japan gotta be one of the most rigged games ever," another wrote.

France moves to 2-0 in group play with this win. Japan drops to 0-2.

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