In response to the disciplinary charge Maccabi Tel Aviv FC is facing from the IFA Disciplinary court regarding allegations of racist chanting and improper conduct, CEO Martin Bain said: “We have come a long way as a club, a lot of hard work has been undertaken and it is widely known that the owner insisted upon a zero tolerance approach towards racist behaviour of any kind at Maccabi Tel Aviv FC.
Several measures have been put in place including an increased number of stewards and CCTV at home games, taking our own security personnel to away matches equipped with video surveillance equipment and a clear message from the club as to what we believe to be inappropriate and the decisive action that we take when necessary.
As a result it is pleasing to see that the steps we are taking have been embraced and commended by the vast majority of our supporters and as a result we have a very evident form of ‘self-policing’ whereupon the fans are vocally expressing their distaste at the behaviour of a small minority who continue to offend.
In our most recent match this was once again illustrated by the manner in which the majority of fans booed such chants and tried to drown out the minority who are causing offence.
The club has received numerous calls and emails from season ticket holders who are keen to highlight the culprits and assist the club in carrying out our zero tolerance policy to identify those who are responsible and we will continue to pass on all of the information we receive to our security personnel.
Maccabi Tel Aviv, together with our fans, will continue to work hard to encourage ‘self-policing’ and we would like to take this opportunity to thank the vast majority for helping us in this proactive manner.
We believe we are now beginning to make a difference and we are disappointed and surprised that the IFA have decided we should face a disciplinary charge when they are very aware of the work we are doing to combat such behaviour, the difficulties we face and the progressive steps we are making in conjunction with our fans”.
