Basketball: Why Tony Parker's Club (ASVEL) Refuses to Play in Israel ?

Tony Parker est président de l’ASVEL depuis 2014. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

Villeurbanne, membre permanent de l’Euroligue de basket-ball, a annoncé vendredi renoncer à aller disputer un tournoi amical en Israël en septembre, en raison du "contexte géopolitique instable" et par "souci de neutralité".

As part of its pre-season preparation, Asvel announced in July that it would face Hapoel Jerusalem, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Lithuanian club Rytas Vilnius.

"An unstable geopolitical context"

"In the interests of neutrality and in the face of an unstable geopolitical context, our professional team will not travel to Israel to play a pre-season tournament. Our president Tony Parker sincerely hopes that calm and peace will return as soon as possible to allow in particular the implementation of sporting events in optimal conditions”, indicates Asvel in a press release.

Tony Parker went to Israel in July to the press conference to present this tournament which would have been the first sporting event of this type to be organized in the country since the start of the war between the Hebrew State and Hamas in October 2023.

Since last season, games involving Israeli national or club teams have been played outside Israel. Basketball games have been played in Belgrade in the Euroleague and the Eurocup games in Bulgaria.