Hapoel Tel Aviv Basketball Club has won its first European title in the EuroCup after defeating CB Gran Canaria 103:94 on Friday night.
This marks the first time in 21 years that an Israeli team has won the EuroCup, the European Basketball League’s second-tier tournament. Hapoel Jerusalem won the 2004 title against Real Madrid BC.
Hapoel Tel Aviv will now move up into the League’s first-tier tournament, EuroLeague.
Hapoel Tel Aviv will need to beat long-time rivals Maccabi Tel Aviv, who have been a mainstay of the top league for decades, first winning in 1976 and last winning in 2014, making them the 4th best team in the league.
Ofer Yanai purchased Hapoel Tel Aviv two years ago and declared his goal was to bring the team to the top of European basketball.
“I know that for you we beat Valencia and the Canaries, but for me we beat Hamas,” Yanai told Israeli media. “They tried to break our spirit, and they didn’t succeed. We made history tonight. History in Israeli sports, national history.”
Extra precautions
Fans were warned before the game to take extra precautions when traveling in Spain by the Foreign Ministry before the game.
Fans were asked to stay away from anti-Israel demonstrations, avoid traveling alone, and tone down displays of team symbols (such as scarves, shirts, flags, etc.) as well as Israeli and Jewish symbols when outside the stadium.
The game was free of any violence, which plagued the Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Ajax soccer game in November, which saw several people wounded in the subsequent riots.
So far, ten people have been prosecuted for their roles in the violence, which included administering a WhatsApp group that directed fans to attack Israelis and sharing the locations of Israelis, as well as numerous cases of violence.
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