Hapoel Tel Aviv owner Ofer Yanai spoke ahead of the second game between Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Tel Aviv about the confrontation in the first game between Jalen Hoard and a Hapoel fan. He said the official reports from the Basketball Association and the Israeli Premier League described an event that, in his view, did not happen.
Yanai said he checked with Dave Lubetzky, who was sitting behind the fan, and was told the supporter had only said, “Go Home.” “He did not curse. How can this be?” Yanai asked, arguing that the association prosecutor should not have removed Hoard, Oshae Brissett and Will Rayman because, he said, that is what the rules require.
He also criticized a league representative, whom he identified as the brother of a referee, saying the official claimed the fan cursed even though he was seated on the opposite side of the court. “I asked him, ‘How can you see he cursed? Do you know how to read lips?’ He had no answer,” Yanai said, adding that he asked for the report to be changed.
Yanai concluded by saying he had been “dealing extensively” with the incident and that “the systems are broken,” while raising questions about who damaged them, how badly they were damaged and in what way. The comments came on June 18, 2026, hours before the second meeting in the series.
