Hapoel Tel Aviv owner Ofer Yanai blasts officials after playoff final opener

Hapoel Tel Aviv owner Ofer Yanai sharply criticized the refereeing and the Israeli Basketball Association prosecutor on Wednesday, following the incident at the end of the previous night’s playoff final opener against Maccabi Tel Aviv. In a video sent to fans, Yanai said everyone had felt the pain of the “painful loss” and urged supporters to keep backing the team.

Yanai said he spoke with the players that morning and told them they understood what they needed to do. “They will respond on the court,” he said, adding that fans should come out and support the club. He described the season as “difficult and challenging,” but said Hapoel is now in the final series and “really want[s] to win the championship.”

He argued that if Hapoel wins the title, it will be because the team is better at basketball, not because anyone helped them. Yanai said that in recent weeks the surrounding system, which is supposed to be equal, public and objective, had decided Hapoel should play a replay even though Jerusalem did not return to play.

Yanai also attacked the prosecutor’s decision over an incident in which, he said, a 71-year-old Jew was approached by two or three young, large and strong men, and one of them knocked off his glasses. He said the man barely recovered overnight and saw a doctor, while the prosecutor believes he should stand trial and not the players who attacked him and left the court area. Yanai concluded that Hapoel would do everything possible to win through sport, saying the systems around them were not at the same standard, and he invited fans to come because there are not many chances left to support the team.