THREE female basketball players in China have been suspended for their part in an ugly, bench-clearing brawl as organizers attempted to clamp down on ill-discipline in the scandal-hit league.

    The incident came during the Sichuan Whales’s game against the Zhejiang Bulls on Sunday, with the hosts reacting angrily to a foul that sparked the melee and led to the referee canceling the game, as the Whales led 81-50.

    The Chinese Basketball Association banned eight players for five matches, with the rest handed one-game bans and the two teams also amassing combined fines worth 51,000 yuan (US$3,872), Xinhua said yesterday.

    The punishment came a day after the CBA kicked Heilongjiang Shenda out of the l2-team league for refusing to play overtime against the Bayi Rockets on Saturday because they were unhappy with the officiating.

    They were also fined 10,000 yuan.

    (SD-Agencies)