By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Euroleague CEO Chus Bueno and competitions manager Diego Guillen have traveled to Israel and attended the opening game of Maccabi Tel Aviv for the local league for the 2026-27 season.
Maccabi beat Galil Elion 120-93 on Saturday night, however, the point is the demand of the local teams is the permission to host their EuroLeague games in Israel.
As Maccabi announced via social media on Sunday: “In the initiative of Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball club, today the Euroleague CEO Chus Bueno and competitions manager Diego Guillen met with European ambassadors and club leaders. In the meeting, the ambassadors updated Bueno and Guillen on the sense of security and the full normal routine in which life is conducted in Israel”.
A bit earler, Hapoel Tel Aviv also made the following announcement: “Club owner Ofer Yanai and club chairman Satiav Sacham met this morning (Sunday) with Euroleague CEO Chus Bueno and competitions director Diego Gian in Tel Aviv (photo). During the meeting, the parties discussed returning Euroleague games to Israel, with the conversation taking place in a positive spirit. Later, club owner Gili Raanan, chairman Satiav Sacham, and general manager George Hinas will also meet with Euroleague representatives, and joining them will be team players Vasilije Micic, Tomas Satoransky, and Zach LeDay”.
Considering that due to the situation in the Middle East no international games are held in Israel, it’s hard to imagine that the situation will change in the near future. For the moment, Maccabi Tel Aviv is using Belgrade, Serbia, as their home court and intends to move to Cyprus, while Hapoel Tel Aviv is hosted in Sofia, Boulgaria.
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