Three American college basketball players arrested in China for shoplifting are back home in Los Angeles after US President Donald Trump intervened on their behalf.
UCLA freshmen players (LiAngelo Ball) the younger brother of Los Angeles Lakers rookie star (Lonzo Ball) and teammates Cody Riley and Jalen Hill arrived on a flight from Shanghai to Los Angeles and exited the airport from the departures level, avoiding reporters awaiting the plane, the Los Angeles Times reported.
According to the commissioner of the Pacific-12 Conference of which UCLA is a member Larry Scott, said in a statement that the players were on the flight and the trio were allowed to leave Hangzhou, where they were detained a week ago.
“The matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of the Chinese authorities,” and we are all very pleased that these young men have been allowed to return home to their families and university, Scott said.
Scott thanked Trump, the White House and the State Department for their assistance in resolving the case.
Trump said he personally asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to intervene on behalf of the three players during his two-day state visit to Beijing last week.
“What they did was unfortunate,” Trump said. “You know, you’re talking about very long prison sentences. They (the Chinese authorities) do not play games.”
Ball, Riley and Hill were arrested in Hangzhou ahead of a scheduled game against Georgia Tech in Shanghai.
According to ESPN, they were nabbed on suspicion of stealing from a Louis Vuitton store and later freed on bail but ordered to remain in Hangzhou.
The UCLA and Georgia Tech squads were in Hangzhou for a side trip to the headquarters of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.
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