Bnei Sakhnin is responsible for one of the biggest farces seen in recent years in Israeli football.
Its radius game against Maccabi Haifa, which was scheduled to take place yesterday at Shlomo Insurance Stadium in Petah Tikva, was canceled following a closure order issued by the Israel Police about two hours before the opening whistle.
The deputy commander of the area, Lt. Col. Yishai Shalem, signed the order when he received information from the force commander present at the stadium that the club did not meet its obligations in terms of event security requirements.
Initially, the demand was for 220 security guards and another 70 police officers.
However, a quick count at the stadium revealed only about 140 security guards, several dozen of whom did not have a security guard certificate.
At that moment, the police announced that they did not allow an audience to enter - and they canceled the game.
Security personnel at the stadium in Petah Tikva.
The heads of Bnei Sakhnin, the chairman Muhammad Abu Yunis, the general manager Khaled Duchi and the other members of the club's management, did everything in their power to change the decision, but in vain.
The Football Leagues Administration issued a scathing statement, in which it blamed Bnei Sakhnin and clarified that "the club is subject to heavy penalties."
The administration also sent an apology to more than 7,000 Maccabi Haifa fans, most of whom were already outside the stadium or on their way to it.
Hence, Sakhnin's route to the tribunal is fast.
The first penalty is a technical loss (3-0), which will result in the team from the sector actually coming out of the fight for a ticket to Europe.
Beyond that, Sakhnin is expected to face a high fine and a very severe suspended sentence, perhaps even dropping points, in case such a story repeats itself.
"This is a neighborhood," said police officers who were present at Shlomo Insurance Stadium. Nobody took unnecessary risks anymore. "
Abu Yunis and Duki convened for an urgent meeting to discuss the problem they encountered.
The bottom line that came out of it is allegations against the police about "where and where" between the treatment of Sakhnin and other groups.
Haifa fans.
How will they be compensated ?, Photo: Alan Schieber
"They asked us for 200 policemen in Doha for 5,000 fans, here 70 policemen asked for 10,000 fans, so where is the proportionality?", The club wondered.
Sakhnin's official statement said that even at the Doha Stadium, the police made it difficult for them by demanding shuttles for the benefit of Maccabi Haifa fans, huge numbers of policemen and ushers, so that the stadium in Petah Tikva was supposed to solve the problem.
"Why, always when it comes to the people of Sakhnin, are the demands excessive?", Ask the management of Sakhnin, which will now have to deal with very heavy penalties.
And there's another problem, mostly technical, is how more than 7,000 green fans who bought tickets to the game will be compensated.
Some are already examining the possibility of a class action lawsuit against Sakhnin.
"People took days off, got out of work, brought the kids - and in the end went home as they came," fans claimed on the way to their car.
Others lit candles and celebrated outside the stadium the fresh championship they had won, and apparently three more points to the collection.
In Haifa, they will check whether the expulsion sentence that applied to Dolev Haziza and Din David will be revoked following the case, since they were not supposed to play against Bnei Sakhnin following the accumulation of yellow cards.
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