ISTANBUL (A.A) - 09.04.2002 - Turkish basketball team Ulkerspor does not want to go to Israel for a European Basketball Men's League Group H second round match with Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv team on April 11.
Ulkerspor reacted to the decision of the Union of European Basketball Leagues (ULEB) not to hold the match between Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv and Ulkerspor teams in another country despite recent developments in Israel.
Ulkerspor Club General Manager Lutfi Aribogan held a press conference on Tuesday in which he expressed their concerns about the match.
Aribogan said that the ULEB's statement that the place of match would not be changed was a surprise for them and reminded that the the match between AC Milan and Israeli team was played in Greek Cypriot administration a short time ago.
''Things have got worse in Israel since that day. To this end, the decision was a surprise for us. We have faced a very difficult situation due to this decision. Our players are facing pyschological difficulties. They had expected that the match would be played in another country. When such a decision was not given, they were shocked. Our players, especially the foreigners, are uneasy and do not want to go to Israel. They say that they are feared of incidents,'' Aribogan said.
Aribogan said, ''I think our players are right. It is really a very difficult situation. On one hand they do not want to go due to their uneasiness on the other hand they do not want to be indisciplined. But, we will go to Israel by taking a risk.''
Ulkerspor will go to Israel on Thursday morning and return to Istanbul immediately after the match. Aribogan stressed that they asked for tight security measures for their group which would stay less than 24 hours in Israel.
Aribogan said that the Foreign Ministry and the Turkish embassy in Israel discussed security issues with the relevant authorities.
Asked what could be the procedure if they did not go to Israel, Aribogan said, ''according to the regulations, the officials are examining whether there was an acceptable reason. The officials ask the views of the sides about the issues related with discipline violations.''
Meanwhile, player Kerem Gonlum said that they were feared of the developments that occured before their match.
However, Gonlum noted, all the players decided to go to Israel despite all the developments.