We often hear that football is played for the fans.
We hear it from the players, from the coaches and certainly from the managements, who subsist on the revenue that comes through the crowd.
In addition, we also well remember how difficult it was to play in front of empty stadiums in the sad days of the Corona and how happy we were that the crowd was back on the pitches.
On the other hand, at mass events like a football game, there are also negative effects that are usually caused by a minority that often makes a bad name, who come to hang out, encourage, identify, feel part of the team and enjoy the most beautiful sport in the world.
I, too, who come to the games with my 7-year-old son, do not want to hear homophobic or merging curses towards an actor, do not want the Holocaust to be mentioned in the context of fans of one group or another, do not want to hear racist songs and I certainly do not want burning or firecrackers To the area where he sits and they will endanger him.
Yesterday, a suspended sentence was imposed against Maccabi Tel Aviv, one of the clubs that try to act most aggressively against wayward fans - an actual radius game, closing goals 10-11 for five games and a fine of 10,000 shekels. The penalty was imposed for throwing objects and racist songs Aggravated due to accumulation of previous offenses).
A typical Tel Aviv derby.
What is most of the audience guilty of ?, Photo: Ami Shumen
Here are some questions.
What are the penalties given by the court for? To deter? To correct an existing situation? To punish the guilty?
Will closing a stand prevent the problematic minority from doing the same things next time?
In an age where everything is filmed and documented, is it impossible to catch the heads of the conspiracy and punish them individually?
There is no doubt that reform is needed to make the football pitches a more pleasant and clean place.
In England, where the problems were much more severe, they managed, with the joint effort of a number of government ministries, to make football the place most worth being in, a must for every tourist.
Maccabi Haifa fans.
The northern stand is closed, Photo: Alan Schieber
And here is the place to turn to the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Sports, the Minister of Internal Security and the other ministers in the government of change.
It's in your hands.
It's time for the change to come to sports as well.
You do not have to wait for a disaster to act (in England the changes came after the horrific disaster in Hillsborough) - you need to enact laws that will allow the police and ushers in the stadium to act most efficiently (police outside the stadium, ushers inside), make sure ushers do not come to see a game but work and keep order Policing are on the backs of the state, not the teams), give the courts quick jurisdiction to punish wayward fans, invest in intelligence, increase punishment to produce deterrence and all this to make the football pitches a fun place to come to with children.
And here is the place to turn to the good people in the association who love the industry most of all and want its success and promotion.
Until the state does something, please, let's look for other ways to deal with the problems.
Instead of closing stands, open those stands only to women and children, instead of hurting at all, come and try to work together with the groups in front of the criminal handful.
Because in collective punishment, we cut down the industry we all sit on and that, no one wants.
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
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