The Israeli national basketball team has been told that it will not be able to play its European Championship qualifying game against Serbia on August 27 at its home arena.
The national team usually plays its home games at the Nokia Arena, but Sport Palaces - the municipal company owned exclusively by the city of Tel Aviv which owns and operates the arena - has double-booked the south Tel Aviv venue with the world-famous Cirque du Soleil.
Anver Kopel of the Israel Basketball Association described the situation as "a complete scandal. More than 5,000 people have already reserved tickets for the game and instead the arena will be hosting a circus."
The IBA has already decided to relocate the national team's home game against Estonia, which was due to be played at the Nokia Arena on August 17, to the home court of Maccabi Rishon Letzion.
