Ofer Yannay Sues Basketball Association and Referees Union Over Jan. 31 Ejection

Hapoel Tel Aviv owner Ofer Yannay filed a declaratory lawsuit on Sunday in Tel Aviv District Court against basketball referee Dan Yalon-Davidovitz, the Israel Basketball Association, and the Basketball Referees Union. The case centers on Yannay’s removal from Hapoel Tel Aviv’s game against Hapoel Jerusalem at the end of January.

Represented by attorneys Liran Bar-Shalom, Adi Kopel-Aviv, and Elisaf Ben-Menachem, Yannay is asking the court for two declarations. First, he wants a ruling that a Basketball Association referee is not authorized under section 46.14 of FIBA’s basketball rules to eject a spectator from a game. Second, he wants the court to declare that Yalon’s ejection of him from the Hapoel Tel Aviv versus Hapoel Jerusalem game on January 31, 2026, was unlawful and beyond his authority.

The filing describes the sequence of events, including what it calls a “delegitimization campaign” by Referees Union chairman Asi Shalem against Yannay before the game. It then recounts how Yannay was removed after approaching the scorer’s table.

Yannay also says he made two follow-up inquiries in recent months. He asked the Basketball Association to explain on what authority he had been ejected, but received no answer. He also contacted a senior FIBA official, who said that as long as Yannay had not committed an act of violence, there was no basis to eject him. In the lawsuit’s conclusion, the plaintiffs argue that Yalon acted “unlawfully, without authority and without any legal consent,” and that the association and referees union are refusing to admit it while relying on false claims that a broad clause in FIBA’s rules allows a referee to remove a non-player, coach, or team attendant.