'They can't have place in this or any competition!' - Dozens demand Israeli exclusion from EuroLeague ahead of Real Madrid game

"Dozens gathered outside the Movistar Arena in Madrid on Tuesday night to protest the EuroLeague basketball match between Real Madrid and Hapoel Tel Aviv as tensions flare in the Middle East. Footage shows protesters chanting 'Boycott Israel' as they waved Palestinian flags and signs reading: 'Get Zionism out of the streets and the hooks' and 'Stop sportwashing.' They also played a symbolic basketball game. "Israel uses sporting and cultural events to give a normalising image, a progressive image, a democratic image, while there is no democracy under a system of apartheid, of colonialism, and when it is committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide," Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement member, Hania Fayid, stated. "As long as they are a state that systematically fails to comply with United Nations human rights resolutions, that systematically violates human rights, well, they can have no place in this or any competition," another protester said. To justify their demand, the protesters cited the example of Russia, which was excluded from many international competitions after the conflict in Ukraine erupted in 2022. "Russian basketball teams and other sports competitions were prevented from participating in international events, well, in the same way, we believe there is no place for a state that systematically violates and breaches international legality and human rights to be participating in a European competition," the protester added. Police cordoned off access to the arena as the Real Madrid- Hapoel Tel Aviv match was played behind closed doors. In January, a similar protest was held against another EuroLeague match between Real Madrid and Maccabi Tel Aviv. More than 250 social organisations and local collectives formally called for the match to be cancelled or boycotted.  Several EuroLeague games involving Maccabi Tel Aviv in other countries have also faced security problems, with some matches moved or played behind closed doors. International sport in Israel was suspended after the war with Hamas began in October 2023, forcing Israeli teams to play their home games at neutral venues across Europe. Both the EuroCup and EuroLeague agreed to resume games in Israel starting in December 2025."

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