Valencia Baket lost 85-82 to Maccabi Tel Aviv in round 17 out of 38 of the EuroLeague, in the first visit to Israel from an Spanish sports club in two years. EuroLeague was one of the first competitions to allow Israeli clubs to return to their home venues, following the peace treaty signed on October 9 between Israel and Hamas with Donald Trump as mediator, a ceasefire frequently broken by Israel, who continues to massacre civilians under the silence and complicity of the Western world
From December 1, home games for Israeli clubs from EuroLeague and EuroCup basketball competitions, like Maccabi and Hapoel Tel Aviv, will be played in Israel, with the rival teams forced to travel to the country still at war for the first time in over two years. Thursday's match, due to the stadium not being ready in Tel Aviv, was played in Jerusalem.
"Valencia Basket, which has been in communication with Euroleague throughout the game, will file a formal complaint tomorrow, providing photographic evidence, regarding the uncivil behavior of Maccabi fans", said the club in a statement.
"Attitudes like today's, with racist insults and repeated verbal abuse directed at the club and our coach, Pedro Martínez, and even preventing him from giving a post-game press conference on television, damage not only the competition but our sport in general, and are completely unacceptable in a basketball arena."
"Why November 25 is unsafe and December 5 is safe?"
Before the match, coach Pedro Martínez had complained about the necessity to travel to Israel (via El País), saying they were uneasy and questioning "why November 25 is unsafe and December 5 is safe? Directives who make the decision don't have to make the trip, we do".
In the sporting side of things, Valencia Basket broke a 5 match winning streak in Europe, although neither the coach nor the players will be very upset about the result, given the difficult experience they had to endure before, during and after the match.
Valencia remain third in the EuroLeague standings (which are led by Hapoel Tel Aviv, followed by Barcelona). Maccabi Tel Aviv has now three victories in a row, and jump to the 14th place (out of 20).