It risks being tense, on the floor and in the stands. While for its first participation in the Euroleague, Paris Basket achieved incredible performances, it has been stopped for three games and must resume, notably against Maccabi Tel Aviv, on January 16 at the Adidas Arena. A match, in the current geopolitical context, with the bombing of Gaza by the forces of the Hebrew State, which will be played under high tension.
Two weeks before the clash, Kop Parisii, which hosts the Adidas Arena to support its team, declared in a press release published this Thursday that it will not push its team during this meeting. “We do not want to politicize the KOP or create divisions in our ranks,” he says. But there are things that go further than a simple basketball match… Our values and the values of humanism in general. »
“Don’t act as if nothing happened”
“We decided with the Office not to make this usual match and above all not to act as if nothing had happened. This is why, and exceptionally, we will not host the KOP forum. There will be no drums, no singing, no tarpaulins. »
Already, on December 19, during the Eurocup match between Nanterre and Hapoël Holon, scuffles had broken out, notably after a spectator entered the court with a Palestinian flag. The Nanterre town hall, fearing incidents, had requested that the meeting take place behind closed doors. In vain. Around 400 officials had been deployed to secure the party. Seven people were arrested.
