Intro:

Leading Israeli basketball team Maccabi Tel Aviv have suspended and fined their captain, Guy Pnini, for calling a rival player a 'Nazi' during a domestic league game against city rivals Hapoel Tel Aviv on Sunday.

Script:

SOUNDBITE (Hebrew): Guy Pnini:
"The most important thing for me is to apologise to my family... that... that most of them were murdered during the holocaust, and to hear my father in the morning... to hear in the morning that my father is calling me and hearing all these things, for me that was the hardest moment."

SOUNDBITE (Hebrew): Guy Pnini:
"I sat together with the (team) management, we formulated a decision together, I must say that everything was made openly and with a mutual agreement, we made a decision about the punishment. Right now I am suspended from the team until further notice by the management, until the end of the season I will not be the captain and I was fined - that I will make a donation to an organisation that I will decide on together with the team. Again, I have a lot to say, I am in an emotional storm, but the most important thing for me is that I want to apologise to all those who were hurt."