A European basketball shock in an icy atmosphere. Nanterre 92 will host Hapoel Holon in an empty room on Wednesday evening. A closed session decreed in the face of rising tensions around the arrival of the Israeli club in France. A radical decision to avoid everything…
A European basketball match will take place in very special conditions this Wednesday evening in the Paris region. The Nanterre 92 club is indeed preparing to welcome the Israeli team Hapoël Holon in the Champions League, but the stands of the Palais des Sports Maurice-Thorez will remain desperately empty. Faced with rising tensions linked to the arrival of this team from the Middle East, the local authorities have indeed taken the radical decision to impose a total closed session for this meeting.
A preventive measure in the face of a hot context
If sports games are usually intended to be a moment of sharing and celebration, this Franco-Israeli duel promised to be under very dark auspices. For several days, an ill wind had been blowing around this poster, crystallizing the diplomatic tensions between France and Israel. On social networks, calls for a boycott increased and more or less veiled threats were even addressed to the Nanterre players.
Faced with this deleterious and explosive atmosphere, the municipality of Nanterre preferred to take the lead. In a decree published this Monday, the mayor thus decreed an outright ban on the public for this match, citing a tense geopolitical context and a palpable risk of excesses. The stands will therefore remain empty, and only duly accredited people (players, staff, media, etc.) will be authorized to enter the room.
Two hostile demonstrations maintained
Despite this closed session, the atmosphere around the meeting remains electric. According to sources close to the matter, at least two gatherings hostile to the match are being held for Tuesday and Wednesday near the Palais des Sports. The organizers intend to denounce Israeli repression in the Palestinian territories and call for the outright cancellation of the meeting.
To justify its decision, the town hall also relied on the violent incidents that occurred on the sidelines of other sports meetings involving Israeli clubs in recent weeks. On November 14 at the Stade de France, clashes broke out during the France-Israel match. A few days earlier, serious scuffles had also marred a Europa League match between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
We cannot take the risk of seeing sport serve as an outlet or a sounding board for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Going behind closed doors is a difficult but responsible decision.
Someone close to Nanterre town hall
A precedent in the Europa League in 2014
Although the scenario may seem unprecedented, it is not the first time that a sporting meeting involving an Israeli club has taken place behind closed doors in France. In August 2014, the first leg of the Europa League play-off match between Losc Lille and Maccabi Haifa was held in a Pierre-Mauroy stadium behind closed doors, again on a prefectural decision due to the risk of unrest. public order.
Beyond the purely security aspect, this new episode raises the question of the place of sport as a vector of dialogue and rapprochement between peoples. Should we maintain these meetings at the risk of seeing the playing field transform into a terrain of political confrontation? Or on the contrary take advantage of these moments of exposure to send messages of appeasement and peaceful coexistence?
Sport must remain a neutral and universal space. By imposing a closed session, we also punish supporters who simply want to enjoy the show in peace.
A reaction collected from a fan of Nanterre 92
A meaningful decision for French basketball
Beyond these geopolitical considerations, this forced closed session constitutes a hard blow for the Nanterre 92 club and more generally for French basketball. First of all, sportingly, the Ile-de-France players will have to do without the support of their enthusiastic public to try to win against a tough opponent. But it’s also a whole party that falls through, with several activities that were planned alongside this European poster.
Financially, it will also be a sleepless night for the club, which will have to reimburse several thousand tickets already sold. A certain shortfall, even if negotiations are underway with TV broadcasters to obtain compensation. So much collateral damage which shows that in sport as elsewhere, politics is never very far away. And that the quest for a sporting ideal free from any extra-sporting consideration is sometimes a challenge.
So behind closed doors on the floor, but certainly not in the minds. We can bet that despite the empty stands, minds will indeed be focused on this little piece of the Middle East which will be played on Wednesday evening at the Palais des Sports Maurice-Thorez. A meeting behind closed doors for a match which will nevertheless be followed and scrutinized well beyond the borders of basketball.
Despite this closed session, the atmosphere around the meeting remains electric. According to sources close to the matter, at least two gatherings hostile to the match are being held for Tuesday and Wednesday near the Palais des Sports. The organizers intend to denounce Israeli repression in the Palestinian territories and call for the outright cancellation of the meeting.
To justify its decision, the town hall also relied on the violent incidents that occurred on the sidelines of other sports meetings involving Israeli clubs in recent weeks. On November 14 at the Stade de France, clashes broke out during the France-Israel match. A few days earlier, serious scuffles had also marred a Europa League match between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
We cannot take the risk of seeing sport serve as an outlet or a sounding board for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Going behind closed doors is a difficult but responsible decision.
Someone close to Nanterre town hall
A precedent in the Europa League in 2014
Although the scenario may seem unprecedented, it is not the first time that a sporting event involving an Israeli club has taken place behind closed doors in France. In August 2014, the first leg of the Europa League play-off match between Losc Lille and Maccabi Haifa was held in a Pierre-Mauroy stadium behind closed doors, again on a prefectural decision due to the risk of unrest. public order.
Sport must remain a neutral and universal space. By imposing a closed session, we also punish supporters who simply want to enjoy the show in peace.
A reaction collected from a fan of Nanterre 92
A meaningful decision for French basketball
Beyond these geopolitical considerations, this forced closed session constitutes a hard blow for the Nanterre 92 club and more generally for French basketball. First of all, sportingly, the Ile-de-France players will have to do without the support of their enthusiastic public to try to win against a tough opponent. But it’s also a whole party that falls through, with several activities that were planned alongside this European poster.
Financially, it will also be a sleepless night for the club, which will have to reimburse several thousand tickets already sold. A certain shortfall, even if negotiations are underway with TV broadcasters to obtain compensation. So much collateral damage which shows that in sport as elsewhere, politics is never very far away. And that the quest for a sporting ideal free from any extra-sporting consideration is sometimes a challenge.
So behind closed doors on the floor, but certainly not in the minds. We can bet that despite the empty stands, minds will indeed be focused on this little piece of the Middle East which will be played on Wednesday evening at the Palais des Sports Maurice-Thorez. A meeting behind closed doors for a match which will nevertheless be followed and scrutinized well beyond the borders of basketball.
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