Appeal Granted: Hapoel Tel Aviv Goes Up 2-0 Against Jerusalem

The legal drama ended with a win for the Reds: the Supreme Court of the Basketball Association accepted the appeal and awarded Hapoel Tel Aviv a technical win in the first game against Hapoel Jerusalem. The judges ruled that responsibility for the game’s stoppage lay with Jerusalem, and therefore the regulations require a technical loss.

The appeal was filed by Hapoel Tel Aviv, the Basketball Association, and the league administration, after the disciplinary court ruled earlier this week that the first game should be replayed. The judges now said that because Hapoel Jerusalem was found responsible for the interruption, the regulations required a technical loss against it. In their decision, the judges wrote: "The result of the game was not decided by this court. The result of the game was decided by Jerusalem, which chose to ignore the referees’ decisions and take the law into its own hands. It was not the green table that decided, but rather leaving the court."

The game in question was stopped at the end of the third quarter with Hapoel Tel Aviv leading 67:77, following instructions from the security forces and the Home Front Command amid concern over missile fire from Iran. After the suspension, Hapoel Tel Aviv returned to the court, but the game was not resumed after Hapoel Jerusalem refused to continue the matchup.

Hapoel Tel Aviv said after the decision: "Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv welcomes the Supreme Court’s decision, which accepted the club’s appeal and ruled a technical loss for Hapoel Jerusalem. In our view, this is the necessary decision, consistent with the facts, the regulations, and the principles of sporting fairness. The Supreme Court’s decision reflects the obligation to respect the decisions of the competent authorities and the rules of the game."

The original decision to order a replay sparked a major uproar in Israeli basketball. Hapoel Tel Aviv sharply criticized the ruling and even threatened not to show up for the second game in the series, but ultimately arrived at the arena and won 84:88. Now, with a 2:0 lead in the series, Dimitris Itoudis’ team will come to tonight’s game at Menora Mivtachim Arena knowing that another win will secure a place in the playoff final. Hapoel Jerusalem, meanwhile, will try to keep its hopes alive and force the series into another game.