Real Madrid has taken the decision to play their upcoming Euroleague matches against Hapoel Tel Aviv with an audience, but restricted capacity to reduce risk of potential clashes between local fans and Israeli fans. Only the season ticket holders and VIP Area clients will be allowed to attend the games.
"Following the meeting held by the State Commission against Violence, Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance in Sport, the match has been declared a medium-risk event. Real Madrid adheres to the recommendation made by the National Police during this morning's meeting at the Government Delegation of Spain in Madrid and will limit the capacity", said the club.
Usually, matches in basketball or other sports with Israeli teams in European countries were played behind closed doors, to avoid riots, so they are taking a risk with these matches on Wednesday, April 29 and Friday, May 1.
Real Madrid plays against Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Euroleague playoffs
Real Madrid finished third in the Euroleague, and will face Hapoel Tel Aviv, sixth, in the play-offs that start next week, a series of best of five games to qualify for the Euroleague Final Four. Real Madrid has the home court benefit, so they will play the first, second and, if needed, fifth match at home.
Hapoel Tel Aviv will play the third match and, if needed, the fourth, at home, but due to the current war with Iran and continued genocide against Palestine, they won't play in Israel: Hapoel's temporary home court this season has been the Arena 8888 in Sofia, Bulgaria (although, due to an administrative error by Hapoel, they will play these play-off games in Botevgrad, a smaller city an hour away from Sofia).
Two other Euroleague games had to relocate their home courts due to war: Maccabi Tel Avi and Dubai Basketball, neither of those reached the play-offs.
Before the Euroleague play-offs, the final play-in match between Barcelona and Monaco takes place tonight, Friday, at 19:30 CEST.