Israeli Teams to Resume Playing in Their Country from December

Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Hapoel Jerusalem will be able to host their European competition matches in Israel again. The decision, made on Tuesday, will take effect from December 1st, following the unanimous approval of their request by the governing body's board. The EuroLeague's green light comes after a truce was reached in the conflict that, since October 2023, forced the clubs to relocate their activities outside the country.

Both Maccabi and Hapoel Tel Aviv, participants in the EuroLeague, and Hapoel Jerusalem, competing in the EuroCup, had submitted a joint request. In fact, Maccabi had proposed resuming their home activities on October 30th, but the EuroLeague preferred to wait to assess the situation's development in the conflict zone after the agreement. Indeed, recent days have seen new attacks threatening the stability of the ceasefire.

The EuroLeague has assured that it will maintain constant communication with local and international authorities, as well as with the involved clubs and other institutions, to ensure the safety and well-being of all participants. Nevertheless, travel to Israel is expected to remain complex, and special measures will be taken for visiting teams.

If the situation remains stable, the first match on Israeli soil will be Hapoel Tel Aviv vs ASVEL Villeurbanne, scheduled for December 4th. A week later, the French team will return to Israel, this time to face Maccabi.

Interestingly, this Wednesday, Real Madrid faces Maccabi Tel Aviv in Belgrade, in what will be one of the last commitments that Israeli teams play away from their home crowd. The first Spanish club to travel to the country will be Valencia Basket, who will meet the Maccabees on December 18th.

Since the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7th, 2023, Maccabi has been forced to play their EuroLeague games away from Tel Aviv. Their last match in front of their home crowd was two days before that date, against Partizan. The war forced a restructuring of their schedule, playing several consecutive rounds as visitors, until they finally settled at the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in Belgrade, where they have been playing since November 9th.

Hapoel Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem also had to exile themselves to continue competing in European tournaments, with matches held in Samokov (Bulgaria) and Riga (Latvia), respectively. Now, if calm is maintained, the return of the three clubs to Israel will mark the end of a long period of sporting exile.