Ofer Yannay says Itoudis will stay, despite Hapoel Tel Aviv’s title loss

Hapoel Tel Aviv came close to its first championship since 1969, but lost Tuesday night to Maccabi Tel Aviv in Game 4 of the Israeli Basketball Premier League finals, handing the trophy to the yellow side. After the game, Hapoel owner Ofer Yannay said the club will keep coach Dimitris Itoudis and continue investing in the team.

“Everyone spent the whole year firing Itoudis, but he is a coach who has been through many difficult situations,” Yannay said. “In the end, there is no such thing as getting everything exactly as you want, neither as an owner nor as a coach. Everyone comes with their own baggage. Itoudis proved his loyalty to the club and to our country in a difficult situation, and of course he will continue.”

Yannay said Hapoel wants to keep most of its roster and add more players. He argued that the team is trying to push Israeli basketball forward professionally, but said the sport and its institutions are not working fairly with Hapoel. He referred to what he called absurd situations, including player strikes, and said Maccabi sometimes plays “8 against 5” while everyone treats it as normal.

He added that Hapoel will not leave Israeli basketball. “We do not want to give up on raising Hapoel’s level,” he said, adding that he wants to fight corruption in the game this summer. “I don’t want to give up on trying to lift Israeli basketball,” he said, calling for “worthy people” and saying he does not want to send young people a message of despair. “I have a daughter here and I love this country,” he said.