Press Statement on behalf of Maccabi Tel Aviv
Today the Israeli Football Association Supreme Court partly accepted Maccabi Tel Aviv FC’s appeal regarding the incidents of the Derby and handed a verdict of a one point deduction lowered from the original two points which will be deducted from the team’s total number of points in the league table.
In addition, the Supreme Court canceled a decision for the closure of the tribunes at Bloomfield and instead sanctioned the club with a 3-match-radius-ban (with fans attending) for the clubs’ next three home matches. The suspended sentence of three points to be deducted in case of a conviction for a further offence which would lead to a match being abandoned was reduced to two points.
Maccabi’s CEO Martin Bain, said in response to the decision “The club notes that the IFA have reduced what we believe was a severe and punitive sentence however we are still disappointed by the outcome of the appeal. The commentary by the Appeal Court regarding Eran Zahavi’s dismissal where they clarified his actions could not be questioned, as well as highlighting that the IFA Prosecutor was in fact wrong in his original approach, is welcomed. While we have been commended in verbal plaudits for our work against anti-social behavior and our approach to safety and security at our own home games, this has not been reflected when handing out the punitive measures which sadly only further reduce the club’s resources in this area.
The estimated direct operational cost to Maccabi Tel Aviv, as a result of the punishment handed down by the IFA Disciplinary Court, is approximately 500,000 NIS.
There is no doubt that the relevant football authorities and government have to work closely with the clubs to help alleviate the pressure faced by high policing and security costs together with acknowledgment that there is only so much clubs can do in this area and that education should be part of the solution.
It is abundantly clear that a hooligan of the opposing team was responsible for the ensuing incidents that led to the match being abandoned however as a club we accept and condemn the small minority of our fans who also helped spoil the occasion for the vast majority of our fans. The punishment of three radius matches, denies our fans and season ticket holders watching matches at Bloomfield, but also the team from being able to play with an obvious advantage in front of a home crowd in our home stadium.”
