A team that takes the court during timeouts is the one that is stirring up the most controversy at the basketball world championships.
A dance squad from Ukraine, known as the Red Foxes, has performed at Ankara Arena during a majority of the games involving the six teams in Group C. But in each of Turkey’s past three games, one of which was attended by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and another by the country’s foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, the dancers have disappeared.
The speculation here is that the scantily clad dancers were pulled to avoid performing in front of Turkish government officials, but no one can agree as to why.
The dance team’s coach, Elena Rozhkova, said her team was pulled from the past three Turkey games for a “political” reason. And FIBA, basketball’s international governing body, admits to making cultural adjustments. But the Turkish Basketball Federation said the dancers were not scheduled to perform.
“I would like to assure you that the decision had no influence from either the government or the federation itself,” Sancar Sonmez, the Turkish federation spokesman, said.
In a country that is almost entirely Muslim, where Asia and Europe intersect, and where secular Western and more devout Muslim cultures mingle, the issue has become divisive. Muslim women are often expected to dress more modestly.
“I think it was planned, it was not coincidence,” said Nagehan Alci, a columnist for Aksam, a prominent daily newspaper here. “But it was also not something that the prime minister would be happy with. He’s a conservative, but he’s also a democrat. It would be harmful if he was involved in limiting people’s freedom of expression.”
FIBA was adamant that the decision for the dancers not to appear did not come from it.
“This is not FIBA’s decision, and the dancers will continue to perform at other games in Ankara involving other countries,” FIBA said in a statement. “The dancers bring much fun and joy to fans watching games and help to create a vibrant, happy atmosphere in the arenas.”