China's center Hu Jinqiu dribbles with the ball against Japan's Alex Kirk during the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifier on February 26, 2026 in Okinawa. Photo: VCG

After its controversial social media post using the term “sneaky win” to describe the Chinese national basketball team’s come-from-behind win over Japan drew ire from Chinese fans, the world basketball governing body FIBA issued an apology statement on Friday for the inappropriate wording.

“Dear basketball friends in China, we owe an apology to the Chinese national team, its fans, and the entire Chinese basketball community. The language used in our post about last night's game result was inappropriate,” FIBA said in a statement on its official WeChat account on Friday in both Chinese and English. 

“Team China's victory was earned through talent, effort, and determination. The original post has been removed or edited from all platforms. We wish all the best to Team China for the remainder of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Qualifiers.”

No parallel apology statement was seen on FIBA’s official website, or its official accounts on Sina Weibo, X or Instagram.

The original social media post by FIBA’s official World Cup account triggered outrage among Chinese fans early on Friday for labeling the Chinese national basketball team’s away win over Japan "sneaky." 

The “sneaky” phrasing drew ire from many Chinese netizens, who interpreted the word as implying underhanded or undeserved tactics rather than a hard-fought comeback in the match.

The original post on X garnered more than 82,000 views and 380 replies, many of which were critical, accusing FIBA of disrespect and bias. The controversial X post was later removed on Friday afternoon.

A parallel post on Instagram by FIBA World Cup has changed the “sneaky win” to a more neutral wording, “China turn things around in the second half, and get the win against Japan.”

The social media incident amplified the Chinese fans’ existing frustrations over perceived biased officiating in the match, where China made a surprising comeback win from a 15-point deficit over Japan on an away court. 

Many Chinese fans took swipes at the refereeing of the match in the original post.

The controversial refereeing of the match mentioned by the Chinese fans includes several technical and unsportsmanlike fouls called against China, especially a Japanese player allegedly committing a malicious foul by kneeing Chinese player Zhao Jiwei during a play, but the referees turned a blind eye. 

One user posted an edited image under the post showing the three referees wearing Japanese team jerseys, with a caption "shame on three referees!" It received more than 280 likes before the whole tweet became unavailable.

Prominent Chinese basketball commentator Yang Yi described the officiating of the match as "pretty outrageous by the standards of international basketball – borderline lawless, frankly," in a post shared by Titan Sports.