By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
Euroleague Basketball recently announced Sarajevo as the hosting city of the 2025-26 EuroLeague Regular Season matchup between Dubai and Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv, with the game at Zetra Arena scheduled to take place on Thursday. In protest of the Gaza war, fans located in the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina are calling for the local government to abandon the plan.
A ‘Cancel The Game’ banner has been placed on a bridge, near the main government building in Sarajevo.
The team coached by Dimitris Itoudis has played four home games so far in Sofia, in Arena 8888 Sofia, with neutral venues extending to an away fixture opposite Anadolu Efes in Podgorica’s Moraca Sports Center. In contrast, the United Arab Emirates side normally alternated between Dubai’s Coca Cola Arena and road games through the maiden EuroLeague journey until the meeting with the Israeli club.
Entering Round 9, Dubai carries a 3-5 record, one game outside the Play-In Showdown zone and two games away from a direct ticket to the Playoffs, while Hapoel shares the standings lead with Zalgiris and Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet at 6-2.
With 30 fixtures left in a double-legged round-robin schedule until April 17, there is plenty of room for change on the table. At the end of the 38-game Regular Season, the top six seeds progress to the Playoffs, and the next four compete for the two remaining spots in the Play-Ins.