Although the EuroCup announced Besiktas Istanbul would host Hapoel Tel Aviv in Belgrade, Serbia, the Turkish team announced it had received security guarantees to do it in Istanbul. Hapoel is wary of the announcement and has contacted both the local government and EuroCup regarding the matter.
Last week, the EuroCup announced that the October 9th game between Besiktas Fibabanka Istanbul and Hapol Shlomo Tel Aviv would be played in Belgrade, Serbia. The Turkish club made an interesting announcement several days later.
"This decision has been taken considering recommendations from the Turkish and Israeli governments," the EuroLeague wrote on September 26th.
Last year, all EuroCup and EuroLeague games between Turkish and Israeli teams after October 7th were moved outside of the two countries.
Despite the EuroLeague's announcement, Besiktas released a statement saying the game would still be played in Turkiye:
The EuroLeague management, the organizer of the BKT EuroCup tournament in which our Besiktas Fibabanka Men's Basketball Team participated, has decided that the BKT EuroCup 3rd week match between our Besiktas Fibabanka Men's Basketball Team and Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv, which was planned to be played on Wednesday, October 9th, at the BJK Fibabanka Sports Complex, will be played in Serbia.
Following the initiatives of our club and the security guarantees given by our government to the EuroLeague management and Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv club, the EuroLeague management decided to host the matchup in Istanbul.
Besiktas Fibabanka - Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv will be played on Wednesday, October 9th at 20:00 at the BJK Fibabanka Sports Complex.
The following day, Hapoel released a statement of their own, announcing they had asked for additional guarantees.
The Israeli team addressed both the local government and the EuroCup:
Following the announcement of the Turkish team Besiktas that it will host Hapoel next week in Istanbul, Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv addressed an official letter to the management of the EuroCup and urgently demanded guarantees and documents that would prove that its safety in the country can be guaranteed.
At the same time, the club contacted the Minister of Culture and Sports, Miki Zohar, and the relevant authorities in Israel in order to receive instructions on the matter.
The Israeli Security Council has recently published a list of countries it defines to have 'real danger to life' to Israeli citizens, and Turkiye is among the countries on the list.
