With only three more years left before the summer Olympics come to Beijing, people are starting to wonder if China is a fit venue for international sports events.

The most recent incident to engender doubt is a basketball game between China and Puerto Rico that ended up a brawl, with 3,000 home team fans showering the Puerto Rican team with verbal abuse, drinks, plastic bottles, and popcorn as it made its way to the locker room.

The brawl started when China’s Yi went in for a layup and was fouled hard by Puerto Rico centre Manuel Narvaez. Events escalated when Li and Mo stormed the court from the bench -sparking violence from both sets of players.

What must be disturbing for those planning to participate in the upcoming Olympics, this is no isolated incident. There was a riot in Beijing in 1985 when the soccer national team lost a World Cup qualifier to Hong Kong. The Chinese basketball team and its fans were part of another brawl during a game against Lebanon in Shanghai in 2001. In 2004, fans went on a rampage in Beijing after the national soccer team lost to Japan in the Asian Cup final.

If Chinese officials don’t find a way to get control over their players and fans within the next few years, we may end up with more Olympic drama than we bargained for.