Hapoel owner: “We will claim the match with AEK on paper – Miraculously we had no casualties”

About a climate of terrorism and incidents that miraculously did not even cause death, he spoke owner of Hapoel Jerusalem, Eyal Chomskyin its wake match with AEK in Liosia for the BCL. In fact, he emphasized that the Israeli team will exhaust all means to win the match on paper (!), while he spoke of poor refereeing and appeared confident of victory in Game 3, next Wednesday in Jerusalem.

“I feel really bad, the game lost its sports value early on. You had a feeling as if you were in a battle, every few seconds there were explosions that shook the field. It was total chaos, you thought you were in a war and not a fight. Miraculously we had no injuries or even deaths. I feared for the lives of the fans, that was the only thing that seemed to me during the match and nothing else. I saw mothers protecting their children and fathers hiding their children in toilets. I felt there was no point to the match itself, other than to get out of there safely“, he said on the Israeli website One.co.il.

As for whether he thought about leaving, he said: “Yes, but they explained to us that this would create a risk of our fans being attacked, so we abandoned that thought. I was told there was a fear of lynching and that was something you couldn’t ignore. At halftime we talked to FIBA ​​people and the referees».

Asked if the whole situation affected his team, he replied: “Obviously. Everyone is affected when there is such turmoil and so many interruptions. We also had lousy refereeing. We just wanted the match to end. We were accused of challenges that never happened. The fight lost its meaning».

Regarding how Hapoel will move from now on, he said: “Of course we will turn to FIBA ​​and fight it. There was no sporting value in this game. It makes no sense for fans to come to a stadium and put their lives at risk. These are situations that cannot happen. We will act with all means at our disposal. This is unacceptable, we deserve 100% to be given the game on paper!. It was like a terrorist attack. When rocks are thrown at children or flares set people’s clothes on fire, a game must end. There should have been more protection».

Finally, for the third match and if he is afraid of reprisals, he emphasized: “Our audience has the most sportsmanship in all of Israel. They will support us, fill the stadium and we will win».