Twelve stitches repair Barack Obama’s split lip

President Obama required twelve stitches after an 'energetic' basketball game resulted in a split lip for the US Commander In Chief.

Boys will be boys. Accidents do happen. And, it would seem, American President's can't resist going in hard on the basketball court.

"After being inadvertently hit with an opposing player's elbow in the lip while playing basketball with friends and family, the President received 12 stitches administered by the White House medical unit," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

The President had been playing for around 90 minutes at a gym at Fort McNair, Washington DC when the incident happened.

It was not confirmed who the assailant in the 'Lipgate' incident was, although Obama is known to have some competent and fiercely competitive players among his closest friends, including his personal aide Reggie Love, who is a former college basketball player at Duke University.

In the run up to the 2008 presidential elections, the future Leader of the Free World frequently shot hoops with friends and since taking office he has had a basketball court installed on the White House's South Lawn.