Guy Geva
Maccabi Tel Aviv players celebrate (Itzik Blanitsky)
10 days before the Tel Aviv basketball derby, a huge mess. Maccabi Tel Aviv informed the director of the basketball league that it is not preparing to allow Hapoel Tel Aviv to admit an audience and is taking advantage of the fact that there is a loophole according to which the visiting audience can be denied entry for a fine of NIS 70,000. Following the decision of the yellows, Batuto will examine the agreement with the league director in basketball.
Rami Cohen turned to Shmuel Frankel and demanded to hold an emergency meeting of the directorate’s executive committee, but Frankel only postponed the meeting until next Tuesday. In Hapoel Tel Aviv, they are outraged by Frankel’s behavior and claim that because he is finishing his job and is identified as a truck driver, he is no longer interested in what is happening.
Rami Cohen He said: “We are not surprised, we sit quietly and before every Maccabi derby try to heat things up. There won’t be a derby without an audience, it’s a scandal, it’s senseless and unsportsmanlike. After that we are accused of being petty and trying to do things. They are trying to smear us. Ei is not surprised by the regulation. It’s like tomorrow I won’t put ‘winner’ stickers on the floor and pay a fine and like tomorrow I won’t give tickets to the principal’s sponsors. And there are no shortage of examples.”
Cohen also added: “There can be no such thing happening. It’s like tomorrow a drunk will walk into a police station and say ‘I’m trying to hit the Arava road and the police will wait for an accident.’
The response of Shmuel Frankel: “I think that any basketball game without an away crowd is something that should not happen. I think that Maccabi is wrong in its behavior, I tried for a week to talk to Maccabi, I pressed them as much as possible and repeated it several times that they are making a mistake, but unfortunately I did not succeed. In order to save time with the executive board, which does not have the authority to discuss this issue, I immediately convened a board of directors to discuss it.
“Currently there is a fine of NIS 70,000 that Maccabi will of course receive for not delivering tickets to a rival team. As for all the other speculations of Hapoel, there is nothing in them and I am doing everything to have an audience for both sides. I will repeat again that I do not agree with this move by Maccabi and am doing everything to change it.”
The regulations are designed not to be trampled on and what is happening here is improper conduct. A derby must have an audience of both sides, the manager must intervene immediately and Maccabi Tel Aviv must also come to their senses. It’s easiest to pay money for anything, we’re also sure that your audience will want to be present at the rematch derby. As soon as they close the audience to the guest side, they will also close the basketball here in Israel.
