By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
As violence between Israel and Gaza continues to escalate, and despite a joint statement by the foreign players of the league requesting for the 2020-21 season to be canceled, the Israeli Winner League announced Friday that it will resume its activities next week, in a bubble at the city of Eilat.
Several players of the league stood up, both in Israel and across Europe, requesting for cancellation of the season, while in Thursday’s statement, the league threatened those who wanted to leave the country with a possible sanction.
Per the league’s Friday announcement:
“The BSL board of directors decided today that Winner League will resume on Wednesday, May 19th, in a bubble in Eilat. Teams will be able to go to Eilat and resume practices starting today, in order to prepare themselves for Wednesday.
If the current security situation in Israel will change for the better, the league will resume regular activities in the teams’ home arenas, a day after the end of the current situation.
The BSL sees the safety and security of the players with the utmost importance. The BSL respects and understands the players’ feelings and believes that this solution will allow everyone to return to action, despite the current situation
The bubble in Eilat will be managed by the BSL’s administration and will have 3 games per day, starting Wednesday.”
The news of the announcement quickly caused a reaction, as Othello Hunter, who was among the players to sign the aforementioned joint statement, tweeted the following:
“@WinnerLeague, once again you just showed the world that entertainment is more important than the safety of people”.
Maccabi Rishon’s Darryl Monroe quoted Hunter’s tweet, with the sole comment “UNBELIEVABLE“.
Prior to the league’s decision, DJ Stephens also reacted to the news of the players’ initiative, stating: “Wild as hell they claiming that players leaving for their safety is hurting these teams, as if people’s lives aren’t more important than the rest of the season”.