The Israel Basketball League Administration decided on Monday to end the 2024/25 season without a champion. Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem were all knotted up at 1-1 in the best-of-3 finals when Israel launched a preemptive strike against Iran beginning the current war.

Game three of the series was slated to be played this past Sunday night at Yad Eliyhau to crown this season’s champion but following intensive talks with all of the authorized bodies, the Home Front Command and the teams and in view of the state of hostilities with Iran, and the lack of the possibility of holding the decisive final game between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem, the league’s Executive Committee decided unanimously that the 2024/25 season will end without declaring a champion.

At first there were several options on the table which include to wait a bit to see if things calm down, end the season and declare both teams champions which has never happened before, play the game without fans, find another venue or reschedule the matchup. However, at the end of the day the committee realized that the decision that had to be made that there would be no end to this season and that there would be no champion named for this season.

The reds issued a statement on the decision, “The Hapoel Jerusalem Basketball Club thanks the players, the professional staff and all of our partners who stood by us and most of all the amazing fans that accompanied us everywhere throughout the season. You are the true champions! We wish all of our brothers and sisters will return home, that there will be days of peace, security and quiet and that we will soon return to the court together, stronger, united and more determined than ever. Love will prevail.”

The yellow-and-blue also commented on the decision after chairman Shimon Mizrachi’s initially said that he felt that the decision seemed unreasonable and wrong to the club and that two champions should have been awarded the league title for the past season.

“The Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball Club was very surprised Monday night by the decision of the Israel Basket League’s Executive Committee, which determined that no champion would be declared for the 2024/25 season, despite the club’s proposal to crown both Hapoel Jerusalem and Maccabi Tel Aviv as joint champions.

“This proposal, coming from the team that finished the regular season in first place, expressed a sincere call for unity with a firm grip on the basic values ​​on which Israeli society was built.

“In times of distress, courageous decisions are required. Precisely due to the circumstances, it was appropriate and necessary to maintain basic sporting principles and values. Unfortunately, the decision not to make a decision serves neither the values ​​of sport nor the interests of Israeli sport, which invests considerable efforts in its legitimacy outside the borders of Israel.

“The Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball Club will carefully consider its next steps.

“This is the time and place to thank the dedicated fans who have accompanied the team with endless loyalty and to the players, staff and the entire Maccabi team who went through an unprecedented challenging season. The club won two of the three titles in Israeli basketball and reached the championship game. Everyone of them deserve more than a season that was wiped out by one erroneous decision.

“There should be a place of honor for the second best team in Israeli basketball, Hapoel Jerusalem, who together with us took part in a terrific championship series in what was an uncompromising sporting struggle while always maintaining fair sports principles.

“We will return with renewed and refreshed for next season, to win back what was taken from us this season.”

Head Coach Oded Katash’s Maccabi Tel Aviv captured the preseason Winner Cup tournament with a win over Maccabi Ramat Gan and also won the Israel State Cup against Hapoel Jerusalem in the capital city as they took home two pieces of hardware. The yellow-and-blue also finished in first place overall in the regular season and made their way to the finals by defeating Nes Ziona 3-0 in the quarterfinals and Hapoel Holon 2-0 in the semis. In what was a challenging continental campaign, Maccabi finished the Euroleague season in 16th place with a record of 11-23 and played all of their games on the road with their home contests taking place in Belgrade, Serbia for the second year in a row.

Hapoel Jerusalem ended the regular season in 3rd place overall and knocked off Maccabi Ramat Gan 3-0 in the quarterfinals and then got by Hapoel Tel Aviv 2-1 to get to the championship series. In EuroCup play, the reds finished in 2nd place in their group but were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Gran Canaria in a game that was played in Belgrade after having played their home games for the regular season in Samokov, Bulgaria.