Admira’s Israeli midfielder, Joseph Ganda, was at the center of an unpleasant situation yesterday (Sunday) at the end of the home game against Austria Vienna, when he received racist curses from a handful of rival fans, who partially hid their faces through masks and also tried to break into fans’ stands. Admira – according to the testimonies of Ganda’s team members.
As is well known, the team that coaches the team is Andy Herzog, a former coach of the Israeli national team, with Ilai Almkeys playing alongside Ganda. According to a report in Austria, Herzog and captain Admira Andreas Leitner suffered violent threats as they tried to reassure Austrian Vienna fans. “It’s not normal for people to look for a fight at times like this. They tried to attack our fans, our coach and attacked the players. Joseph Ganda suffered very heavy insults,” said Captain Leitner angrily.
The videotape of the incident was sent to the police, and it is estimated that these are fans whose faces are familiar and this is not the first time they have been involved in such an event, and they have even been removed from their team’s home stadium for a long time.
“I think it’s mean, unfortunately I have nothing to say beyond that. I went into Admira’s locker room and apologized to Leitner and Ganda on behalf of the whole club, because I know these fans do not belong to us,” the Austrian sporting director said in Vienna in response to the unfortunate scene. “It’s not our home stadium and we do not have the ability to decide who comes in here and who does not, but I would like it to be so in the future so that such things do not happen again. As a club we strongly condemn it and I can only apologize.”