New season, new law: is this what will lead to the eradication of violence in the fields?
The data of the Israel Police which are revealed here for the first time, reveal a particularly bleak picture when it comes to the enforcement of the laws of violence in sports that have existed until now.
Will the law passed with great fanfare bring about real change?
It is not at all certain that there are those who want to enforce it
David Rosenthal
07/08/2022
Sunday, 07 August 2022, 14:05
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Tikteknu: today's summary clip, 7.8 (Sport1)
In the past year, the Israel Police did not make any use of their authority to remove rioting fans from the soccer fields, nor did they take any action against fans who uttered racist statements and fans who broke into the field - according to official data from the Israel Police that came to us.
According to police data, during the past year (July 2021 to June 2022), the Israel Police opened 50 investigation files for violent offenses in sports.
Of these, 22 have already been shelved, are in the process of being closed or are set in a 'hold' state (52%), 10 cases are still under investigation (20%) and 14 have been transferred to the prosecution or the claims department of the Israel Police (28%).
Many cases are closed.
Flares at the cup final (Photo: Barney Ardov)
The data also shows that 15 of the cases closed in the past year were opened for assaults (75%), and that in total during the past year 63% of the cases opened by the police for assaults at sports events were shelved.
Only five cases for assault incidents, 20%, are currently being handled by the prosecutor's office or the claims department.
In addition, the data show that precisely the offense of prohibiting the introduction of a prohibited object into a sporting event, an offense that by all accounts is not the most serious offense that occurs on the football fields, is the offense that most concerns the prosecution unit in the police and prosecutor's office (65% of the cases).
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The offense that concerns the prosecution unit the most is bringing in a prohibited object (Photo: Kobi Eliyahu)
According to attorney Eyal Basraglik, an expert in criminal law and white collar, "These data paint a particularly bleak picture from the point of view of the Israel Police and the lack of internalization of the severe problems that Israeli sports have suffered in recent years.
In fact, the data show that the Israel Police does not really believe that there is a problem of violence in sports, or that it needs to be addressed since it mainly deals with relatively minor offenses and precisely in the offense of assault, which is the most serious of all, there is a trend towards easing and closing cases."
According to Attorney Eyal Besargalik, "the data also They are raising concern that the law to ban violence in sports that was approved by the Knesset just before its dissolution will not really lead to the eradication of violence on the football fields and basketball halls, since it seems that the problem is the lack of enforcement that stems from the lack of motivation or desire to deal with the sweeping problem - and not a lack of appropriate tools."
As I recall, about two months ago the bill to ban violence in sports passed in first reading.
At the center of the law is enforcement and punishment focused on riotous and violent fans and as much as possible in real time.
Moreover, the police will be able to issue administrative fines to those who behave violently and the authority to expel from the fields will be significantly expanded, with the clear goal being more expulsions of violent and riotous fans, and for longer periods.
sport
Israeli soccer
Tags
Israeli soccer
Israeli basketball
