Since Corona disease came to us exactly a year ago, the government has made quite a few decisions regarding the Israeli public. Some are better, some are less good. The recent decision of the Ministry of Health regarding the return of the crowd to the pitches is one of the unfortunate decisions made.
But before we explain why the decision is so bad, I first want to make complaints to the heads of the football teams who have been silenced, not compensated here, did not fight at all for the benefit of their fans and left the hard work to Sports Minister Hili Trooper and Chairman Erez Kalfon. That all the years, until the arrival of the Corona, you mentioned at every opportunity that they were the biggest asset of your club, and I’m especially talking about the big teams that are accompanied by tens of thousands of fans, who sat at home and “exploded” from their owners’ inaction.
At the same time I saw the business owners who crashed, they literally “committed suicide” on their workplace, took to the streets, took to the Knesset, shouted with tears in all the media, some even acted against the laws, some confronted the police, they did everything to get back to work.
No one asked the group owners to confront the police or act against the law, but to appear in the media to hear the outcry? To meet with the ministers and even with the prime minister? Nothing and nothing. It suited them very well to get money from the state and do nothing and nothing. So annoying. The main thing all these years is to shout that fans are an asset and can not be harmed. In the moment of truth, you did nothing for them and these were forced to see the teams they love so much from home on empty pitches.
In our football there are very respectable and very influential people. No one would convince me otherwise, that if Mitch Goldhaar, Yaakov Shachar, Alona Barkat, Moshe Hogg, Izzy Shirtzky, Avi Luzon, Itzik Nisnov and Jackie Ben Zaken had taken steps, they would have wanted to meet with the Minister of Health, and even with the Prime Minister, They would have been waved, but they did nothing and today some of them will probably come in with complaints. I was not at all surprised to see yesterday what the heads of the Ministry of Sports said, that none of the stakeholders put any pressure on the Ministry of Health: “We fought alone and no one cared.”
And there is an excellent explanation for this. Because the safety net worked great for the teams. Minimal expenses and large income from the state. If there was an audience, the story would be reversed. More expenses and less income. In the simplest terms, football teams were willing to “sacrifice” their fans for easy money from the state. It’s hard for me to write this but it’s the truth.
Now about the decision that was made and why she is unhappy. Until it was finally decided to bring the crowd back to the pitches and performances, and many football fans decided to get vaccinated just to go back and watch football, the Ministry of Health came and restricted the entry of fans in an outrageous way. If the Ministry of Health is talking about 30 percent in an open stadium, then let there be 30 percent. What do you mention 30 percent if you only approve 1,500 viewers?
Look at the biggest absurdity. The stadium in Petah Tikva “The Colony” contains 11,000 seats. It is in the category of over ten thousand spectators and 1,500 fans can be admitted. Maccabi Petah Tikva and Hapoel Kfar Saba have all the fans who come to watch the game and they contain almost 15 percent of the stadium’s contents. Sami Ofer and Teddy, who have about 30,000 spectators, with the large crowds in the country of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Maccabi Haifa and Betar Jerusalem, can also bring in only 1,500 spectators, which is only 5 percent of the stadium’s content. Are you real? How can you? Speaking of percentages when each stadium contains a completely different amount from each other? Just a terrible decision, which does not serve most teams, especially the big ones, who do not understand how exactly only 1,500 fans will be able to bring to the games when they want to reach 30,000.
The groups may now be furious at the decision, but where have you been and when will your voice be heard that there have been discussions in recent weeks? It’s an absolutely unreasonable decision and I like a decision that is unequivocal, never gray. Either black or white. This time the decision was gray. Fans have been vaccinated, they have certificates that testify to that, you can keep your distance, everyone has masks, so what is this decision? In my opinion, football fans, compared to the audience that comes to shows and performances, are perceived as “lepers”, those who are hopeless, doing whatever they can, undisciplined and just because of that they have been outrageously restricted.
In a state of law like ours, when the Israeli police come to the pitches to deal with the problem and not to rest in the afternoon, there should be no problem enforcing the rules on football fans. Enough, tired. Understand that there is no such thing as football without fans, so we “ate it” , A long time that there were no games at all.Now the situation is different.Why did we get vaccinated if we are not allowed to come and watch a football game?
If there is one place that is safest in terms of space it is just the football field. Did you understand that, Mr. Yuli Edelstein? I would like to end optimistically and quote Sports Minister Hili Trooper. “This is another step in the struggle that will continue until we reach the desired numbers.” I wish. Just do not forget to take with you to the fight the leaders of the groups who behave on this issue like ostrich girls.