Police clashes with Israeli fans, Hapoel game vs Maccabi gets forfeited / News - Basketnews.com

Huge queues started forming due to unusual measures taken by local law enforcement to prevent riots. Hapoel released a statement saying the wouldn't arrive at the game due to the police behavior.

Credit: Seffi Magriso/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Seffi Magriso/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv and Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv were scheduled to play a derby in the Israeli SuperCup semifinal. The game ended before it even began.

The two clubs met on a football field on Tuesday. The matchup was marred by huge fan riots, which forced the game to start half an hour late. As such, extra measures were taken by the local police before the basketball game on Thursday.

Although the gates were opened a couple of hours before the start of the game, large queues started forming due to procedures law enforcement took. Each visitor was required to show an ID, spectators were checked with metal detectors, and even underage viewers were required to undergo the same procedures as adults.

The measure was a first in many years, an unusual happening in Israeli basketball. As such, many fans came without IDs and could not enter the hall.

With severe delays and difficulties forming, Hapoel released a statement saying that the club would not arrive at the game:

Sports fans - not criminals!

Starting in the morning, we began to receive messages from which we understood that the Israeli police would treat tonight's game as a war event in which all the fans, including everyone from the age of eight to eighty, women, children, were treated as potential criminals.

In light of the attitude in which the audience was treated at the entrance to the hall, we decided that there was no point in going up to play tonight.

The sport belongs to the fans!

Following the statement, the game was officially forfeited, and Maccabi advanced to the final, where they will meet against Hapoel Jerusalem.

Support BasketNews so we could make even better content.