Beitar Jerusalem fans break into the lawn of the 2023 State Cup final (documentation on social networks according to section 27A of the Copyright Law)
As of late at night, Beitar Jerusalem understood from the Israel Football Association that the team would receive the trophy today (Wednesday) because it had rightly won it. Association Chairman Shino Zuaretz held talks with senior officials, including Beitar Jerusalem owner Barak Abramov, and decided that the decision would remain on the pitch, so that Beitar Jerusalem won the State Cup and could also celebrate tonight, probably at Sacher Park. Following the decision, a visit to the president's residence is also on the agenda.
Just to understand the magnitude of the bizarre situation that has been created, Beitar wanted to take the trophy with them before leaving the stadium, but the Association announced that due to the fact that it was not awarded to it and due to the events after the final, it still does not receive it and is defined as the official cup holder. Beitar's problem was that tonight was the last night to celebrate, because tomorrow is already a holiday eve and most of the players have booked flights for Thursday.
Following the pressure, Zuaretz decided: the decision will remain on the pitch (Photo: Bernie Ardov)
Under pressure from the Jerusalem municipality, an interim decision was made that the celebrations would take place without the trophy, but team owner Barak Abramov, who heard about it, dismissed it out of hand and clarified that without the cup there would be no celebrations.
Abramov was very frustrated at the end. On the one hand, he was very angry at the insinuations coming from the direction of the Association, and on the other hand, he was disappointed with his audience and did not enjoy a moment. When he came to be interviewed, he was asked first about winning the cup, but he didn't feel like talking about the cup or all the good things that happened at Beitar this year. He immediately took out everything he had in his stomach on the fact that the possibility of stripping the team of the title was on the agenda, as well as the frustration with the crowd.
Abramov will break his head in the summer and try to understand how in dialogue with the fans he achieves more than he has achieved to date. He doesn't have the millions to start dispersing cameras and security units on behalf of the club to catch weeds or those that lead to events that cause the club financial and reputational damage. His possibility is only through dialogue. He earned a lot of credit from the crowd this season. He praises the fans and stood behind them even after the break-in against Sakhnin, but at some point there will come a point where Abramov's credit to the crowd will also run out. He does not intend to reach a state of tabib or celebrating and fight the audience, he tries to create a discourse in which the audience will take responsibility. There was a time when it somehow "passed", but in the latter part of the season – and the climax came yesterday – there was already a feeling that it was beginning to escape Beitar's hands.
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It is already beginning to escape from Abramov's hands. Beitar fans break into the pitch yesterday(Photo: Walla!, Maya Banai)
It started yesterday with throwing flares that caused a game to stop, an object that hit Patrick Twomassi, other objects thrown onto the pitch, with several times fans breaking into the pitch during the match. The climax, of course, came at the trophy hoisting ceremony. The IFA does take the blame for yesterday's events, but Beitar fans crossed a line. At first there were several hundred on the grass that no force tried to evacuate, and when they had already been evacuated and the medal ceremony began, the thousands burst from the South Stand onto the pitch, reached the stage where President Herzog stood, and tried to take the trophy. Meir Harush saved the medals and hid it in his shirt, but the fans managed to take the IFA's fireworks device and set it off. Of course, after that they refused to leave the lawn, until it was decided to cancel the ceremony.
Yesterday's events first of all damaged the image of the entire sport, but every fan who went down to the pitch yesterday first of all hurt the owners, the coach and the players who brought him a trophy after 14 years. Ofir Krief deserved to enjoy the hoist, followed by all the players. Came Yossi Abukasis who did magic and Barak Abramov who wanted this trophy so badly. No one deserved to end this evening like this, but there are those who don't care about anyone, they only know the rules they invent. "They're going to have to change. If they can't do that, then Beitar won't be able to achieve anything," said a senior club source.
And that may be the problem: things that were permitted in the 90s are already forbidden today, but some Beitar fans still stayed there. Beitar fans always complain about the ICC and that other audiences do no less bad things, in many cases they are right, but it has already become a kind of excuse, maybe even a kind of incentive to keep the old and the good, to be the best advertisement for all the bad stigmas against Beitar fans. Beitar will be severely punished following the events, But the damage to the image is no less important. After it's all over, Barak Abramov will have to shift up the level of communication with the audience to try to straighten it out and get fans to internalize once and for all: this is not how it can go on.
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- Israeli football
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- Beitar Jerusalem
- Barak Abramov