Athens – AS Ramat HaSharon, one of Israel’s leading groups, arrived at the Marusi Stadium in Athens for the eighth-final match against AEK Athens, Greece. This is a respectable team with foreign players, including leading international handball teams, such as Denmark, France and Hungary.

When AS Ramat Hasharon arrived at the hall, they discovered that the Israel’s flag wasn’t there, only the flags of Greece and the EHF flag – the European Union. When the club’s chairman, Avi Kachlon, asked the organizers to hang the Israeli flag, the answer he received was that there was no such flag. The organizers told the chairman; “don’t make any trouble, we have a problem with the PLO.” Despite the Israeli request, The Cypriot observer, Sotiris Constantino, ordered to start the game.