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          'In cahoots': Liz Cambage signals shock Nigeria switch

          • ESPN
          Aug 8, 2023, 01:00 AM

          Former Australian Opals star Liz Cambage has signalled her intention to play for Nigeria, the same nation whose players she is alleged to have made racist remarks toward during a pre-Olympics practice match in 2021.

          Cambage is alleged to have said "go back to your Third World country" while Australia were playing Nigeria ahead of the Tokyo Games, a comment that later saw her dumped from the Opals team. She has not represented Australia since the incident.

          But in a surprising turn of events, Cambage, whose father is Nigerian, now says she has applied to play for Nigeria.

          "Why does Nigeria want me to leave Australia and go and represent them?" Cambage told Bleacher Report's Taylor Rooks.

          "We're filing for me to leave the Australian team, so I can represent Nigeria. I've been in cahoots, I've been talking to them since all of this happened. This is what I mean, people don't know the truth."

          Cambage has always denied she made racist remarks toward the Nigerians, which is in stark contrast to the accounts of players from both teams that day.

          Opals great Jenna O'Hea told the Australian Broadcast Commission that she heard Cambage say "go back to your third-world country." Unnamed Nigerian players told News Corp that Cambage had used the word "monkey" after earlier striking opposition centre Victoria Macaulay with an elbow.

          But Cambage maintains her innocence, telling Bleacher Report there were tapes of the incident that would clear her name.

          "A lot of girls don't like me. I don't really lean towards racially backed insults," she said.

          "That's not how I go. I'm very pro-Black. I did not say these things to these girls.

          "Leak the tapes. I've never owned the tapes. Leak the tapes. Y'all want to see the truth, leak the tapes. Everyone in Australia that has seen the tapes, still lying about what is on these tapes, leak the tapes.

          "I want it out there. Put it out there. I've never owned it. I didn't even have it when everything happened. I couldn't even protect myself with it. I had to get lawyers to get a tape with my own assault on it."

          Nigeria's Promise Amukamara responded to Cambage's claims, tweeting: "I'm sorry but this is false.

          "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/ [sic] was the former coach of our National team & he's no longer the coach, so there's that!"

          Opals coach Sandy Brondello told ESPN in December 2021 that she had contacted Cambage about returning to the Australian fold, but that the centre said she had no interest in rejoining the team for the run to the 2022 FIBA Women's World Cup, where Australia later won a bronze medal.

          With Cambage unavailable, the Opals brought back WNBA great Lauren Jackson, who went on to score 31 points in a sensational performance in Australia's bronze-medal playoff victory over Canada.

          "With no Liz Cambage in the team, she's been great for the Opals in the past, but we know she'll no longer be there so it's an opportunity for others. We have to reset the way we want to play, and I think it's exciting," Brondello told ESPN.

          "Jan Sterling and I contacted all the players via email or phone to get their interest and see if they were committed, because it is a big commitment. Liz had decided she has no interest in doing that. That was fine, we respect that. My focus now is on the talent we do have."

          Asked about her own experience within the Opals environment, Cambage alleged she herself had been the target of racism.

          "I have struggled a lot with the Australian team," Cambage told the Bleacher Report podcast.

          "I've said it constantly. I've dealt with teammates with blackface, I've dealt with coaches lying, coaches pushing other athletes to talk badly about me in the media. There's been a lot.

          "I really hope Australia releases me and FIBA allows it because my fans miss me playing. I'd love to do another Olympics. Paris would be fab. There is nothing like an Olympic Village, it is one of the most inspirational places ever.

          "My last Olympics was hideous. Rio Olympics was horrible. Rio Olympics was one of the worst times of my life, and that's a reflection of the coaching staff and the team. I would love to start fresh with teammates that understand me, look like me, appreciate me and respect me. I have been talking with the Nigerian coach ... he has my back."

          Cambage is currently without a WNBA team after she departed Los Angeles Sparks in July 2022.

          She was most recently contracted to Israeli club Maccabi Bnot Ashdod.