US EditionBizarre One-Player Situation Forces Basketball Team to Forfeit in Europe
Trapani Shark played with just five players amid financial troubles and fines, leading to a forfeit after three players stopped playing and one fouled out early in the game.
- On Jan 7, 2026, Trapani Shark was reduced to one player during a FIBA Champions League play-in in Bulgaria, ending Game 1 early.
- With just five available players at tip-off, Trapani had two debutants and lost three teammates during the first quarter for unspecified reasons, while a fourth fouled out with about three minutes left.
- With Holon up 38-5 at the halt, competition rules on forfeits apply under Article 14.5.4, which causes a club to lose the series after a default in Play-Ins or Play-Offs.
- FIBA declared the match a default after Trapani had fewer than two players on the court ready to play, awarding Hapoel Netanel Holon the series win and advancing them to the Round of 16.
- Trapani Shark, with a `3-4` record and reportedly facing financial problems, said it played to avoid a `draconian` 600,000 euros fine, according to the club.
26 Articles
26 Articles
Basketball team forfeits playoff game in 1st quarter after being down to 1 player
Italian professional men's basketball team Trapani Shark forfeited a FIBA Champions League playoff game against Israeli team Hapoel Netanel Holon after it "had fewer than two players on the court ready to play," the league said in a statement.
Only five players had arrived, before the break there was only one professional on the course: an Italian basketball team was excluded from the Champions League. Background was the fear of a fine.
While the NBA is awash with milk and honey and the commissioner of the world's most powerful league dreams of a European 'branch' of NBA Europe, the financial reality of European basketball couldn't be further from the American glamour. The latest proof is the FIBA Basketball Champions League match, in which the showdown between the Italian Trapani Sharks and the Israeli Hapoel Netanel Holon ended after just seven minutes of play.
Associated Press News
Italian basketball team left with 1 player on court and forced to forfeit European game
An Italian basketball team has been left with just one player on court during a European game, leading to an automatic loss and elimination from the competition.
At the worst there is never an end. And if it was thought that the renunciation against Virtus Bologna could be the lowest point of the season of Trapani Shark, another figure arrived. And more in Europe. The match between the Trapani formation of the patron Valerio Antonini who for several weeks has 8 points of penalty in the championship because of administrative irregularities in the payments of withholdings and contributions and the Israelis…
The match between Hapoel Holon and the BCL Trapani Shark ended 38-5 and lasted just 7 minutes
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