The Israeli teams are looking towards Cyprus, it is unknown what Maccabi will do

They are preparing to move to Cyprus Hapoel Holon, Hapoel Gilboa Galil, Bnei Erzeliya and Ironi Nes Ziona, as confirmed by the President of the Cyprus Basketball Association, Andreas Mouzouridis, in his speech on Super Sport FM 104.0’s “Twelve in SPORTS.”

The respective teams take part in the Basketball Champions League and the FIBA ​​​​Europe Cup and have therefore submitted a request to FIBA ​​​​Europe to allow Cyprus to play their European games. The intentions of Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv, competing in the EuroLeague and EuroCup respectively, remain unknown and are therefore not subject to FIBA ​​jurisdiction.

“The first issue we had to think about is humanitarian. We will not deny humanitarian assistance to anyone who needs it and to anyone who asks us for it, especially when we talk about the Federation of Israel, with whom we maintain friendly and fraternal relations and who has helped us in everything over the years has what we needed.

They contacted us by phone and official letter and asked us to host these four teams (S. Hapoel Holon, Hapoel Gilboa Galil, Bnei Erzeliya and Ironi Nes Ziona), and I say these four because they participate in FIBA ​​events, in the BCL and in the FIBA ​​​​Europe Cup. Maccabi is in the EuroLeague, that’s a different case.

They asked us to take them in so that they too could complete their training. We were confident, we contacted the relevant state authorities, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and we are moving forward with preparations to receive them.

We will host them in Paralimni. We prefer centralization in order to be able to offer you the greatest possible security. The racing part is more complicated and complex. We have received information that the Israel Basketball Federation has requested FIBA ​​​​Europe to declare Cyprus as an alternative venue for the European games of these teams.

We are waiting to see whether the application is accepted by FIBA. There are many parameters that the FIBA ​​board has to take into account, there are concerns from the rest of the teams, security concerns. There are also some issues that concern us, but we will try to serve the teams if all relevant bodies agree. The teams will be here within the next week, probably on October 26th.

Maccabi competes in the EuroLeague, which is not affiliated with FIBA ​​Europe. Due to their participation in the “Neofytos Handriotis” tournament, their knowledge of the “Eleftheria” stadium in Nicosia and the very good relationship with the organizer of the tournament, Mr. Konstantinou, as soon as this crisis broke out, everyone was very successful. The relevant authorities were informed and the team’s foreign players arrived the next day. “I don’t know the team’s intentions because they play in the EuroLeague,” Mister. Mouzouridis.