Absurd situation in European basketball! One team was left with only one player on the field and the match ended in the 7th minute
Article by David Istrate – Published on Wednesday, 07 January 2026, 18:02 / Updated on Wednesday, 07 January 2026 18:04
The Basketball Champions League (BCL) play-in, the third continental basketball competition, offered a bizarre situation on Tuesday, January 6, during the match between Hapoel Holon (Israel) and Trapani Shark (Italy). The guests had only 5 basketball players on the score sheet, and the game ended after 7 minutes, at the score of 38-5 for the hosts, when the “sharks” were left with only one player on the court.
Trapani Shark was the protagonist of one of the most astonishing moments in the recent history of European basketball. Financial problems have left the Italian group without several players, but a refusal to abandon a BCL play-in game has left them in an absurd situation away from Bulgaria, where they met Hapoel Holon.
Trapani Shark was down to one player after Luigi Patti's 5th foul
Trapani Shark had only 5 basketball players on the game sheet: Alessandro Cappelletti, Francesco Martinelli, Luigi Patti, Riccardo Rossato and Fabrizio Pugliatti. However, the BCL play-in duel started as scheduled by the competition organizers.
Hapoel Holon dominated the start of the match and the visitors were quickly without three athletes, who left the field: Rossato, Pugliatti and Cappelletti. Patti and Martinelli played 2 vs. 5 more 40 seconds but Patti accumulated his 5th personal foul and was ejected.
At this moment, that is, in the 7th minute of the first quarter, at the score of 38-5 for the hoststhe referees blew the final whistle of the match, because the regulations do not allow a team to perform with only one player on the field.
The defeat of Trapani Shark was considered as a “forfait” by the Basketball Champions League, and for this reason, according to the BCL competition regulations, the Italians lost the play-in series, thus Hapoel Holon advanced to the second phase of the competition.
Trapani Shark, close to extinction, just 3 years after its establishment
But how did Trapani Shark end up in this situation? The band from the Sicilian city has a very short history, having only been established in 2023, after a massive investment by Valerio Antonini, an entrepreneur from Rome.
According to BasketNews, he also took over the football team and bought a local television station. In the first two years, things went extremely well: Trapani Shark promoted to the Italian premier league and in the 2024-2025 season played in both the semi-finals of the championship and the Final 8 of the Coppa Italia.
In the summer of 2025, Antonini built a new competitive team and the Trapani Shark took the step towards the Basketball Champions League. But, shortly after the start of this season, the first scandals broke out regarding the group from the south of Italy.
First they existed suspicions regarding the registration of Trapani Shark in the Italian leaguethen they appeared rumors about players not being paid. Jasmin Repesa, a well-known coach in Europe, has left the Sicilians and in recent weeks more and more players have left the team and found other commitments.
During this period, Antonini tried to use his personal Facebook account to justify his actions, but his posts did not sway the leadership of the Italian Basketball Federation, and Trapani Shark is about to be expelled from the championship.
After the cancellation of the game between Virtus Bologna and Trapani Shark, the team management decided to play the play-in with Hapoel Holon and FIBA took no action to prevent the absurd situation that followed.
Antonini argued that if his players had not entered the field, the BCL would have fined him €600,000. The entrepreneur from the Italian capital also criticized the Italian Basketball Federation and the management of the first league, accusing them of blocking the registration of new players and coach Alex Latini.
