Skjoldebrand filed a verbal abuse against Pnini who called him 'Nazi'

Hapoel Tel Aviv's Swedish-Israeli power forward Jonathan Skjoldebrand filed an official "verbal abuse" complaint to the Israeli Basketball Association (IBA) against Maccabi Tel Aviv captain Guy Pnini, earlier today.

Skjoldebrand claimed that yesterday, during the second half of Maccabi's animated 91-72 blowout victory over city rival Hapoel, Pnini threw a series of ruthless curse words and racial comments towards Tel Aviv's 29-year-old big man.

"While he was guarding me, (Guy) Pnini called me 'Nazi,' wished for brain tumor and cancer on myself and my father, and completed a series of 'f' words," Skjoldebrand said today via official team release.

"I thought I misunderstood at first, but (Pnini) continued  saying the same racial remarks. It's unheard of for a Maccabi Tel Aviv captain to accuse me of such things. We're talking about an Israeli national-team player who called me a 'Nazi?'" the 6-foot-9 Skjoldebrand added in disbelief.

It should be noted that Pnini took trash talk to another level by saying the above mentioned, and was caught on live-television while doing so. Israeli hoops sources told Sportando that Pnini is no longer fit to serve as Maccabi's captain, while others supported the extreme, suggesting the league should boycott Pnini for the remainder of the season, and that he is no longer worthy of wearing Israel's white-and-blue national uniform.

Following Hapoel's allegations, Israel's national-team head coach Arik Shivek issued a statement that said. "I ​​condemn all sort of verbal abuse and violence of any kind, and stand against any mentions of the Holocaust on basketball courts. I trust the IBA'sattorney general committee to make the best decision."

Israel's Minister of Culture and Sports Limor Livnat said, "I belittle the behavior of the Maccabi's captain Guy Pnini in yesterday's derby. (Pnini) has crossed the boundaries and red lines of unsportsmanship and I call for severe immediate actions against the player."

Maccabi officials are yet to address the topic.

Pnini netted 6 points on 1-6 shooting from the field, collecting 5 rebounds and committing 4 fouls in 15 minutes for Maccabi while Skjoldebrand struggled both mentally and on the hardwood, finishing with just 4 points and 3 boards in 19 minutes in Hapoel's losing trip to Nokia Arena.

Maccabi increased its impressive longtime wining-record against Hapoel to 53-11 and has grabbed Israel's no. 1 seed (7-1). Hapoel picked up back-to-back losses (4-4), dropping to .500.