The Football Association informed the heads of Hapoel Haifa that any ticket that is not sold by Saturday to the semi-finals of the State Cup will have to be returned to the association, and these will go on sale to Maccabi Haifa fans. The Red Heart fans’ organization, which, together with the club, is conducting the fan operation for the Cup semi-finals, is angry with the association and claims that it does not allow a sale to be opened for stand 8.
The fan organization and sponsor Tzachi Nakash issued an explicit announcement that they will return all the tickets if they are not given the opportunity to sell tickets to stand 8. The association explained that they are interested in a full stadium and the buffer can only be done in stand 8 since Maccabi Haifa fans have already bought all tickets. Therefore, the association clarified that the opening of stand 8 for sale without a commitment that all the tickets will indeed be purchased can cause the stadium not to be full and a “pit” of about 2,000 seats that will not be occupied will be created.
“Our goal is one and only and that is to have a full stadium in terms of visibility. Obviously we want half and half so we initially handed over half of the tickets to Hapoel Haifa, but we made it clear that just as Maccabi Haifa sold the tickets gradually towards the center of the field – so will Hapoel Haifa. The possibility of a buffer to be a full stadium, “the association said.
Hapoel Haifa, on the other hand, claim that fans are not interested in sitting in the side seats and want in the center of the field. Discussions are still going on between the club’s heads and the association.
At this stage, about 8,200 tickets have been sold to Hapoel Haifa fans and the great hope is that the tension at the moment will not really lead to a situation in which Hapoel Haifa fans “boycott” the game. If all the tickets that are not sold are put up for sale to Maccabi Haifa fans, a significant majority of greens in the stands is expected.
“If need be all of us including all of us will return the tickets of the game to the semi-finals and arrange a screening,” Nakash wrote on his Facebook page.