The investigation was opened following a complaint filed by Katz. According to the suspicion, the two, a 16-year-old resident of Haifa and a 29-year-old resident of Nesher, threatened him and tried to attack him. They were released on restrictive conditions
Posted on: 27.4.22 13:16
Yesterday (Tuesday), the police detained for questioning a minor, a resident of Haifa, and a resident of Nesher who allegedly threatened the owner of the Hapoel Haifa team, Yoav Katz, and tried to attack him. The investigation was opened following a complaint filed by Katz.
At the end of the game last Saturday, in which Hapoel Haifa was hosted on the field of Kiryat Shmona, the fans were furious at a weak display of their team, which was humiliated 0: 4. About 20 fans waited at the end for the owner present in the stands, and as he got into his car, knocked on the car and called for him to leave the team, and there were even some who increased to do and called him not to come to the country, from his seat in Washington, USA. The team’s players, who fell behind 3-0 after just 14 minutes in the away game in Kiryat Shmona.
Immediately upon receipt of the complaint, evidence was collected, security cameras were seized and strenuous activity was carried out at the intelligence level. All of these led to the disclosure of the identities of the suspects in the act – a 16-year-old resident of Haifa and a 29-year-old resident of Nesher were detained for questioning. At the end of the investigation, they were released on restrictive conditions. The investigation continues.
The police said that they will continue to use all the tools at their disposal to prosecute violent offenders in general, and those related to violence in sports in particular, while harming public safety.
The Hapoel Haifa football club responded: “We condemn and are shocked by the serious cases of violence directed at the club’s owner Yoav Katz in recent days in four different cases. Those cases are crossing all the red lines. We trust the police to handle the matter with the utmost severity.”
“We are shocked by the violent and ugly attack against Hapoel Haifa club owner Yoav Katz. The administration has been in contact with Israeli National Police officers who have been personally involved in the case since the complaint was filed by Yoav Katz.”
Erez Kalfon, chairman of the administration: “We spoke yesterday with Yoav Katz, who told us about the violent attack he went through at the entrance of the hotel, where he is staying, and we strengthened his hands. I would like to thank the Israel Police for acting quickly and decisively to reach those criminals. Now I hope the other law enforcement agencies will work to keep them away from the football pitches as well. We will not allow the owners of football teams to be harmed and we will act with all our might together with the law enforcement authorities to fight violence. “