Doron Ben Dor
Maccabi Haifa fans (Omari Stein)
It’s been a week that the Maccabi Haifa fans have gone on a campaign of violence that they claim is against the team. The fans feel that their team is under attack from teams, commentators and football people who claim that the Greens get concessions on and off the field, which causes the referees not to whistle in favor of the team.
Among the fans, there is a feeling of intimidation on the networks from the opponents’ fans and even from the opponents’ players, while they mention Dor Peretz who complained about a goal scored by Maccabi Haifa in Ashdod. Gali Levy, a fan sitting in the upper northern stand, addressed the issue and said: “After we won two championships and qualified for the Champions League, certain teams are encouraging campaigns against us, that’s clear. Our audience noticed that suddenly there is a big incitement against Yankel’ Shahar as if he was controlling the association.”
He added: “Commentators try to hit our players like firecrackers. They are trying to hurt us off the field. That’s it, we won’t be silent! Our campaign that started on Monday and continues today is against the violence against us (we saw in the cup how many exiles disqualified us), and mainly for everyone to unite around the team. Players and fans together. We are against the whole world.” Another fan, Eitan Alon, added: “The feeling is that there is an attack on Maccabi Haifa.”
“There is continuous pressure from rival fans in the media and social media to influence referees. This also affects those in the media who invent so-called conflicts within Maccabi Haifa, and even officials at the rivals send all kinds of messages about unfair judgment towards the team. Unfortunately, these things do have an effect as we already saw in our cup game against Netanya. It is the furthest thing from sportsmanship, but it produces real damage,” he added.
“Obviously this confusion stems from the success of the club and jealousy in light of the two consecutive championships, the appearance in the Champions League and the potential for a third championship in a row. They see the power of Maccabi Haifa and its audience and are simply anxious that this green festival will continue this summer as well. At the same time, I am sure that we are strong enough to overcome the current onslaught of spins and pressure. Maccabi Haifa will talk on the field and not in the media or on Twitter, and the Green Army will be there to push it as hard as possible in the battle for the championship and a star.”
