Security officials had to remove Israeli President Isaac Herzog from the stadium on Tuesday after it was stormed by fans cheering Beitar Jerusalem’s Israel Cup victory in the city of Haifa.
Beitar Jerusalem won the Israeli Cup by beating Maccabi Netanya 3-0 in the final match between them at the Sami Ofer Stadium in Haifa.
Video footage of the events showed Herzog presenting medals to the players of the winning team as fans rushed into the stadium and security personnel quickly surrounded Herzog and escorted him out of the stadium.
Security personnel quickly escorted Israeli President Isaac Herzog from a football stadium in Jerusalem. #Haifaafter cheering fans rushed onto the field in honor of Beitar’s victory #Jerusalem with a cup #Israel#We _ lie _ in _ detailspic.twitter.com/24vNGFEYFe
– Independent Arabic (@IndyArabia) May 24, 2023
Sad scenes tonight at the Sammy Ofer Stadium, where Beitar Jerusalem won the Israel State Cup after defeating Maccabi Netanya, but the trophy ceremony did not take place after Beitar fans stormed the field to celebrate. In the video, President Isaac Herzog is kicked out of the stadium. pic.twitter.com/QJEbtPXudT
— Roy Yankelowitz (@roijay) May 24, 2023
Herzog said in a statement that the fans ruined the final ceremony so much that they could not hand over the trophy to the winning team.
“It is a pity that the dedicated fans of their club, who have been waiting 14 years to win the cup, do not understand this very symbolic and important gesture at a time when they are so proud (of their team’s victory),” Herzog added.
Beitar Jerusalem is one of the largest Israeli football teams, and its fans are known to be the most racist in Israel, and have previously raised anti-Palestinian and Arab slogans during matches, including “Death to the Arabs”, as well as their refusal to see Arab or Muslim players in their ranks.
A few years ago, fans of the club published songs containing insulting phrases against the Prophet of Islam.
Among the known racist stances of the team’s fans, they asked the club’s management in June 2019 to refrain from including Nigerian player Muhammad Ali because of his name, or to change it as a condition for accepting his game. in a team.
Emirati investors intended to buy a stake in Beitar Jerusalem, but the deal did not go through.
And the Russian sports newspaper Sport-Express reported that the Beitar Jerusalem club won the Israeli Cup for the eighth time in the history of the country, and the team will take part in the qualifying matches of the European Football Conference League.
The newspaper notes that the match was attended by the defender of “Beitar Jerusalem” Russian Grigory Morozov, who scored one of the gates of his team, and his compatriot Sergei Borodin, who plays for the Israeli team on loan from the Krasnodar Club, came on as a substitute in the match. the end of the match, and celebrated the victory with the Russian flag on his shoulders.
Source: media