AEK-Hapoel incidents: 'Father had to hide his children in a bathroom' / News - Basketnews.com

Hapoel's owner Eyal Chomsky said that the organization had to provide security for the team's fans. The representative claims he saw parents protecting and hiding their children. He also attacked the referees who supposedly wanted to just finish the game.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

The attack on Hapoel Jerusalem fans in Athens by AEK supporters shook the basketball world on Wednesday. The day after, authorities from both countries reacted. At the same time, the witnesses told the stories of their experiences in the venue.

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The owner of the Israeli club, Eyal Chomsky, told ONE that the organization was genuinely concerned about the well-being of its fans in the arena.

"It was explained that if we got off the court, our fans would have been attacked, so I understood that this was not an option. I was told that there was a chance of a real lynching," he said. "Miraculously, nobody was injured. I only feared for the lives of the fans, that's the only thing that worried me during the game and nothing else."

"I saw mothers protecting their children, a father hiding his children in the bathroom," Chomsky shared. "At halftime, I spoke with the FIBA ​​representative and the referees. They said they had to do what the security told them to do."

Later on, the representative told that Hapoel received little support from local authorities.

"It was on an extreme level, it was like a terrorist attack. Once a rock is thrown at a child or a firecracker sets a shirt on fire, that's it, it's over. We needed to provide security to protect the fans from the outside, no one from the opposing team told me anything," he said.

"Obviously, any sane person understands the situation with explosions affects the game. The refereeing was also terrible, they just wanted to finish this game," Chomsky shared. "We were accused of offenses that did not exist at all. It lost all sporting value."

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The league has already begun an investigation into the matter.

The Greek fans started throwing various things at the Israeli supporters. One of the fans was injured in the process, Tomer Givati from Israel Hayom writes.

AEK fans threw firecrackers at the opposing fans, and started burning an Israeli flag, while several Palestinian flags were seen in the arena as well.

Israeli fans later responded with flares.BN Sports reportincidents outside the arena as several loud bangs could be heard before the start of the second half. There were several attempts to break into the Hapoel stand,the Israeli journalist notes.

The Israeli clublater released a statementclarifying the discussions that were had between the organizations and the refereeing crew.

The burning of the Israeli flag:

Firecrackers being thrown at Hapoel fans:

AEK fans behaving violently:

Experience of one Israeli fan:

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