ATHENS // The Serbian basketball player Nenad Krstic was arrested but released without bail after a mass brawl that caused a game against Greece to be abandoned, police said. The 27-year-old, who plays for the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder, was alleged to have hit Yiannis Bourousis with a chair as the Greek player tried to break up a fight during their Acropolis Tournament game in Athens yesterday. The last game of the Acropolis tournament was abandoned with 2:40 to go and Greece leading by one point when the fight broke out. A stunned crowd of about 5,000 at the Athens Olympic Arena watched players from both teams exchange punches and kicks. Two or three spectators entered the fray and were quickly shoved out of the arena. Krstic grabbed Greece forward Antonis Fotsis by the throat and threw a chair towards Sofoklis Schortsanitis, who was pursuing him. The chair hit Yannis Bouroussis, who had not played in the game because of a hand injury, and left him with blood trickling from a wound on the side of his head. The fight began when Fotsis had moved threateningly against Serbia guard Milos Teodosic, who had fouled him. The players continued fighting in the tunnel leading from the arena to the locker rooms before eventually being separated. Prosecutor Costas Simitzoglou released Krstic pending an investigation into the brawl. Investigators from Greece's sports violence squad will examine video footage of the game and take statements from witnesses before deciding whether to bring charges. Krstic returned to his hotel after being released and was due to leave Athens for Belgrade later today, said Darko Ninkov of the Serb Embassy in Athens.
Greece forward Kostas Tsartsaris later apologised for the incident at the Olympic Indoor Hall. "Sorry to everyone from all over the world who attended the game because these images are not in keeping with the Olympic spirit," he told reporters. * Agencies