Maccabi's suspension reportedly discussed at EuroLeague shareholders' meeting / News - Basketnews.com

Maccabi Tel Aviv's participation in the EuroLeague faced a critical point when five shareholders cited security-related reasons to suggest that the Israeli side be suspended from the competition.

Credit: Valencia Basket/Miguel Angel Polo Credit Valencia Basket/Miguel Angel Polo

Maccabi Playtika Tel Avivwill play their next EuroLeague games in Belgrade and the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall, the league'sshareholders meeting decided Tuesday.The first game will be played on November 9th againstFC Bayern Munich.

Points this season

47%82,7Points made:82,7Accuracy:46,6%Place in standings:7Record max:96Record min:66Best scorer:Bonzie ColsonTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

Extra safety measures will be ensured to protect the integrity of all individuals,the league announced. However, it seems that the Israeli champions had to wage a battle of survival for their very existence in the tournament.

According to Arale Weisberg from Walla Sports, the board meeting, which lasted more than five hours, dealt with a variety of topics. Per the same report, one scenario had the shareholders seriously considering casting Maccabi out of the competition.

The 13 clubs holding the A license, which guarantees their place in the EuroLeague for ten years, participated in the discussion. The Israeli club was represented by the owners David and Danny Federman, in addition to the chairman Shimon Mizrahi who joined the discussion from Tel Aviv.

The belligerent line that came close to leading to the Israeli side's expulsion was led by the Spanish representatives - Barcelona, ​​Baskonia and Real Madrid, Weisberg reports.

They were also joined by the two Turkish teams, Fenerbahce and Anadolu Efes. The argument was not political or against Israel's policy, but rather focused on safety reasons and the increased cost of hosting the games.

A strong police force was deployed both in Valencia and in Athens when Maccabi visited the two cities in Rounds 3 and 4. In Spain, the team was accompanied by about 700 policemen, including special forces and a helicopter that hovered over the players' bus, while in Greece, a sizeable police force was guarding the Israeli delegation during their stay and transports from the airport to the hotel and the OAKA arena.

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv / Schedule

Valencia Basket Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv75-66 Panathinaikos Athens Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv81-86 AS Monaco Maccabi Playtika Tel AvivThu19:00 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv10-3119:30

Furthermore, those measures and the increased levels of alertness made several fans reconsider whether they should attend games. In Valencia, no more than 2.000 watched the contest, while in Athens the crowd was way bigger (6.500), but still smaller compared to Panathinaikos' game vs. FC Bayern Munich.

The Spanish and Turkish team expressed concern about the security arrangements and the financial cost that would be required from the host teams to take the necessary measures, and therefore proposed to suspend Maccabi from the league for the rest of the season. These clubs insisted that they could not guarantee the safety of the opponent team or their own players, no matter where the game was held.

Walla Sport describes an attempt to rely on the precedent of the suspension of the Russian clubs 20 months ago, following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. The argument in favor of the suspension was the league's concern for the safety of the Russian teams that would visit various cities and venues.

And even though CSKA Moscow have been suspended, they're still present in the management of the EuroLeague and participated in the discussion, supporting Maccabi's position. Panathinaikos, Olympiacos and Olimpia Milano also led the alliance, joined by ASVEL, Zalgiris Kaunas and Bayern.

Ultimately, the proposal for suspension was shelved and did not even come up for voting.

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