The association will discuss the investigation.

Assessment: Omar Atzili will not be invited to the team against Albania

Yossi Banyon, Alon Hazan and the heads of the association will consult and decide how to respond to the investigation into the footballers and minors case: "What we saw is disgusting, but we will wait to see the full picture."

Sports Minister Hili Troper criticizes: "For two years too many people in Israeli football have been silent"

Yaniv Tuchman

07/28/2022

Thursday, July 28, 2022, 10:45 a.m. Updated: 11:09 a.m.

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The correspondence between Dor Micah and Omer Azili (from Network 13)

The Football Association will hold a consultation regarding the publication of Micha and Omar Azili's generation and is expected to take a position which it may even publish in the future.

The Football Association and the Israel national team have seen the things that were published and are aware of the public criticism, but they also want to see the second part of the investigation that journalist Almog Booker did in "News 13" and only after that, when they have the full picture, will they hold a consultation within the association together with the professional manager of the Israel national team Yossi Banyon and the coach Alon Hazan - and later a decision will be made which, among other things, is expected to contain the question of the future of the two in the national team, and especially Omer Atzil who was part of the team in the last gathering in the League of Nations.

The football association wants to act with discretion and, as mentioned, are waiting for the publication of the second part this evening in which the reactions of the two in the police investigations regarding the content of the WhatsApp messages between them will be expressed.

"On the one hand, what we saw is disgusting. On the other hand, you ask yourself how the police closed the case for lack of guilt. There are probably things we still don't know, so it's worth waiting and seeing the full picture before making a decision," said an official at the football association.

"Even today, every week crowds of fans carry the players on their shoulders and cheer for them, as if nothing had happened" (photo: official website, Doron Shiner)

At the same time, a day after the correspondence between Omer Atzili and Dor Micah as part of the "football players and minors" affair was published, Sports Minister Hili Troper calls on the players to "take responsibility and apologize fully", and conveys a message to the football fans in Israel: "Anyone who chose these players as their showcase - please don't Lighten your head."

Trooper wrote: "The stars of the Premier League in soccer are an object of imitation for many. Masses of children and teenagers look up to them, imitate them, dream of being like them. In an investigation published by Almog Booker, all those fans were exposed to the contemptuous treatment of girls and talk about drugs by two of the biggest stars.

" I do not deal with evidence and proof, I do not persecute these players, I simply know that the masses of young people who read the sickening correspondence and listened to the ugly and humiliating voice that came from them, need to hear a different voice.

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"The players have not yet asked their fans to leave the girls alone and have not yet seen fit to apologize to them, at least for the crazy shaming campaign they went through."

Trooper (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Troper also added: "Everyone who chose these players as their showcase - please don't worry. Many, many young men look up to you, many, many girls try to understand you.

"For two years, too many people in Israeli football have been silent.

The players themselves must be silent.

To date they have not done the minimum: take responsibility and apologize.

Not half an apology, not in soft words and not in kind.

"We all fall and we can all make amends, but you cannot skip the first step: take responsibility and apologize fully. Even after two years, the players have not yet asked their fans to leave the girls alone and have not yet found it appropriate to apologize to them, at least for the crazy shaming campaign they went through

. I had a blast visiting one of the girls.

I found her broken under terrible shaming attacks from fans and fans of the actors.

An army of fans sang songs of praise in honor of the footballers and insulted and slandered the girls, as if they were guilty.

"I guess they still haven't really recovered. In contrast, even today, every week crowds of fans carry the players on their shoulders and cheer for them, as if nothing happened. But things happened. It's time to at least apologize."

Implicit criticism of them too?

Shahar and Barkat (photo: official website, Doron Shiner)

The affair first exploded in June 2020, and about three months later the prosecutor's office announced the closure of the case.

Atzili and Micah claimed their innocence, and noted that the girls lied to them, claimed they were over 16 and even showed them fake IDs.

The announcement of the prosecutor's office reads: "The decision to close the case was made after a thorough examination of all the evidence in the case, including videos and correspondence, and after completing the investigation. The victims of the crime were also notified of this."

Even before the decision of the prosecutor's office, Maccabi Tel Aviv decided to release the two players.

After a season in Cyprus, they returned to the Premier League, to Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Beer Sheva, and Atzili, who led Maccabi Haifa to the championship two years in a row, was even called up to the Israeli national team.

• sport

• Israeli soccer

• Super League

Tags

• Micha's generation

• Omar Azili

• trooper troops