Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Tel Aviv will meet in the Premier League playoff final series for a fiery derby that gets underway on Thursday, but off the court the winds are already raging.
In parallel with the first game of the series, Israel's youth soccer team will advance to the semifinals of the World Cup. In order to avoid a scheduling conflict, various parties examined the possibility of moving the first game scheduled in advance to Thursday.
While Maccabi Tel Aviv gave its approval to the move, Hapoel Tel Aviv objected due to the desire to equalize the preparation and rest time that the two teams would receive ahead of the game.
"State of emergency" at Yad Eliyahu
In the morning, Maccabi Tel Aviv sent a letter to the chairman of the Israeli Basketball Association and the chairman of the league's administration, demanding that a "state of emergency" be declared that will not allow visiting visitors to the derby games for the next two years, due to the inability to cope with the security of the event and the possible risk to the lives of the spectators.
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in the arena, photo: Alan Shaver
The club asked the union to put on the agenda at tomorrow's board meeting the application of the definition of "state of emergency" to the game. Activating such a situation will allow the Yellows not to transfer the 1,500 tickets intended for Hapoel Tel Aviv fans.
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On the other side, they were unfazed by the demand, and threatened not to show up for the game if a state of emergency was declared. Throughout the day, members of the Hapoel and Maccabi centers held a round of talks with representatives of the teams in the Basketball Association, with the aim of creating a united front of each side ahead of the vote.
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