*Former WNBA star Liz Cambage is addressing reports that she used a racial slur towards her Nigerian opponents during a pre-Olympics training game in 2021.
At the time, the Australian newspaper The Sunday Telegraph ran a report about Cambage referring to anonymous players on the Nigerian team as “monkeys” and telling them to “go back to your third-world country,” CBS News reports. The incident allegedly occurred during a scrimmage on the UNLV campus in Las Vegas before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Cambage said the accusations are “inaccurate and misleading.”
“The incident that took place in the pre-Olympic scrimmage with the Nigerian national team was handled privately almost a year ago,” Cambage wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post in May 2022, CBS News reported.
“I am very disappointed and hurt by the events and accusations that have unfolded in the Australian media. The account of what took place is inaccurate and misleading. I did not use the racial slur toward the Nigerian team that has been circulating,” the post continued.
Liz Cambage says she’s in talks to leave the Australian team to represent Nigeria in the Olympics.
She maintains she did not use a racial slur towards the Nigerian team during a scrimmage ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics
(via Taylor Rooks X) pic.twitter.com/8VOWEMtUzH
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 7, 2023
Speaking to Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report for an interview on Monday, Cambage, whose father is from Nigeria, once again denied using racial slurs towards any Nigerian player. When asked why her version differs from others who were there, Cambage said, “a lot of girls don’t like me.”
“I don’t really lean towards racially backed insults,” she added. “That’s not how I go. I’m very pro-Black. I did not say these [things]to these girls. The truth looks a lot worse for other organizations involved, than using me as a scapegoat.”
Cambage also noted during the interview that the Nigerian national team has asked her to play for them.
“We’re filing for me to leave the Australian national team so I can represent Nigeria,” Cambage said. “I’ve been in cahoots. I’ve been talking with them since all of this happened. This is what I mean. People don’t know the truth.”
Liz Cambage attends the 2022 ESPYs at Dolby Theatre on July 20, 2022, in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Promise Amukamara, who plays for Nigeria, insists Cambage referred to them as “Monkeys.”
“I’m sorry but this is false,” Amukamara wrote on Twitter about Cambage joining Nigeria. “Lol,” she added.
“She called us Monkeys & told us to go back to our country,” Amukamara continued. “Yes she said that! Literally everyone from both teams have the same story BUT her, so y’all do the math! The only person she has been in ‘cahoots’ w/ was the former coach of our National team & he’s no longer the coach, so there’s that!”
Cambage is a four-time WNBA All-Star, an Olympic Bronze Medallist, and a FIBA World Cup Silver Medallist playing for Australia. She last played in the WNBA in 2022 for the Los Angeles Sparks and most recently played for Maccabi Bnot Ashdod Israel.
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