The Veolia Towers Hamburg clearly lost 72:111 (42:59) in a high-risk game against the Israeli club Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv in the Eurocup.
Due to the escalation in the Middle East conflict, strict security precautions were in place around the basketball match. Spectators were not allowed to bring bags, drums or banners and were searched very thoroughly before entering the arena.
The high-risk game also had an impact on the number of spectators: with 2,032 tickets sold, only 1,078 spectators showed up. The almost 200 visiting fans were accompanied to the arena under heavy police protection. There were also numerous supporters of the FC St. Pauli football club among the visiting fans, as there is a friendship between the two fan camps.
According to the club, the visiting team had been in Hamburg since the middle of last week. The players had written on their shoes the names of young Israelis who had been killed in the Gaza border area.