Elizabeth Cambage may be representing a different nation during the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
On Monday, August 7, Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report shared an interview she recently conducted with Cambage. During their conversation, Rooks asked her about an altercation that reportedly took place in the summer of 2021. More specifically, Cambage, while representing the Australian Opals in a scrimmage, allegedly called members of the Nigerian Women’s Basketball Team “monkeys” and an altercation ensued. Shortly thereafter, Cambage and the Australian Women’s Basketball Team parted ways for the 2021 Summer Olympic Games.
“Obviously, there are reports of a physical and verbal altercation between your Australian team and the Nigerian team. A report says that you called the players ‘monkeys’ and told them to go back to their ‘third world country.’ You vehemently denied these reports, but there is also a group of people that say you did say these things. Why are these stories so drastically different?” Rooks asked.
“A lot of girls don’t like me. I don’t lean toward racially backed insults. That’s not how I go. I’m very pro-Black,” Cambage answered.
As the conversation unfolded, Cambage went as far as to say that she was used as a “scapegoat” and claimed that Nigeria has asked her to play for their team internationally.
“Why would something as bad as this happen?” Rooks inquired.
“[Something as bad as this happens] because the truth looks a lot worse for other organizations involved than using me as a scapegoat. Like, why does Nigeria want me to leave Australia and represent them?” Cambage answered.
“You’re saying, right now?” Rooks followed up.
“We’re filing for me to leave the Australian team, so I can represent Nigeria,” she responded.
Shortly after clips of the interview began to circulate throughout social media, a member of the team that represented Nigeria in the 2020 Summer Olympic Games began to dispute Cambage’s claims publicly.
“I’m sorry but this is [f]alse,” Promise Amukamara tweeted.
“Literally everyone from both teams [has] the same story [but] her, so y’all do the math. [And] the only person she has been in ‘cahoots’ [with] was the former coach of our National team [and] he’s no longer the coach, so there’s that.”
