Marbury shoots video asking fans to behave
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E-mail China Daily, March 28, 2012
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Stephon Marbury of Bejing Ducks goes up for a basket in front of Wang Shipeng of Guangdong Southern Tigers in Game 1 of CBA Finals on March 21, 2012. |
The Beijing Ducks' Stephon Marbury and captain Chen Lei have shot a video calling on the team's fans to behave in a civilized manner at home games.
The Ducks were fined for 110,000 yuan ($17,406) for unruly crowd behavior, which included the abuse of opposing players and throwing litter onto the court, during its first home game of the finals at the MasterCard Center last Wednesday.
The league also warned the club on Monday that its 'home stadium' would be changed if similar acts occurred again during Wednesday's second home clash against the Guangdong Southern Tigers.
The club, which leads the best-of-seven series, 2-1, has vowed to cooperate with the venue's operations team to prevent such incidences from occurring again.
After steering the squad to its first finals in franchise history, Marbury has become a folk hero in the city.
The 35-year-old made the film with Chen on Tuesday to urge fans to support the team but also to respect its opponents.
"I feel embarrassed to see the fans cursing our rivals," the Ducks' manager, Yuan Chao, said on Tuesday. "It's harming our image ... and we may have to move the game to another city if it happens again.
"We appreciate our home fans' support very much and we know how important it is to have them chanting. But we really need it to be done in a proper way."
According to Yuan, Guangdong's home crowd was far more disciplined during the Ducks' two road games last week.
Some of the Beijing fans are notorious at Guo'an's soccer games at the Workers Stadium, where the crowd collectively abuses and curses visiting teams and fans.
That has now been transferred to the basketball court. However, it's not just a Beijing phenomenon.
The Shanxi Brave Dragons copped a 60,000 yuan fine for violations including throwing litter onto the court during its semi series against Beijing and pelting the visiting team's bus after a home game earlier this month.
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