Fans return to the stadiums: “In the stands the air will return to the lungs”

Football fans return to the stands after a full year without an audience, the excitement is at its peak and so are the teams’ preparations for the new reality. True, only 1,500 people will be allowed to enter the big stadiums (and 750 for the smaller ones), but that’s still infinitely more than any fan.

The checkouts and buffets will not open and fans will be allowed to bring in plastic bottles with drinks. Two empty chairs will separate any two fans, and all the following will have to be over the age of 16 and have a vaccinated or recovering certificate.

We examined how the situation is handled by four clubs and their fans: Hapoel Tel Aviv, Hapoel Haifa, Maccabi Netanya and Kiryat Shmona. The first two teams, by the way, were the only ones who voted against the outline at a meeting of the leagues administration board, claiming they could not apply in front of their fans – who would argue for discrimination.

Hapoel Tel Aviv will in fact be the first Premier League team to experience the return of the crowd in its season game at the bottom, in Bloomfield against Bnei Sakhnin, which is below the red line and only three points away from it. However, the club’s Ultras organization has already announced that it does not intend to enter Bloomfield due to the administration’s decision to admit only 1,500 fans, and beyond that there is great anger of the team due to the price tag the team set, 110 shekels, On the card.

In practice, it was decided that any subscriber who purchases a ticket for the game today will not receive the right to purchase a ticket in the next game, with each subscriber being allowed to purchase only one ticket. Before entering the “Where” website, Hapoel fans were asked to declare that they had a vaccinator / recovering card / green sign in the traffic light app, and that they would also be required to present it at the entrance to the stadium with an ID card.

The club clarified that it will not be possible for children / teenagers under the age of 16 to enter (even if they have a recovering certificate / vaccinated) and that it will not be possible to purchase tickets at the box office, but only on the “Where” website. Also, there will be no distribution in the stadium of tickets purchased online. Fans of the team will be placed at the bottom of gates 8-7 in a format of keeping distance, with between each chair there will be a separation of two chairs (the chairs will be marked in advance).

Each ticket will have a time of arrival. Every fan who comes to the game is asked to meet the time specified on his card in order to prevent crowds and congestion in the stands. No sale of food and drink within the stadium will be allowed. However, in coordination with the police it was decided that plastic bottles would be allowed for drinking and masks should be worn at all times. At the same time, the club stated that these days the club’s management has commissioned the compensation outline for 19/20 subscribers and will soon publish an orderly outline.

In the middle of the week, Hapoel Haifa made the decision regarding the sale of tickets for the game against MS Ashdod (18:00). According to the club’s announcement, ticket sales will be possible for fans who purchased a subscription in the 2019/20 season and who have a green card or a certificate of recovery from the Corona virus, next to an identity card. In addition, subscribers for the current game season (20/21) will receive an entrance ticket via e-mail from the “Barak” ticket box office and all tickets (including subscribers for this season) will be to the eastern stand.

As in all stadiums the box office will be closed and there will be no distribution of tickets on the day of the game. Until Friday morning, 700 tickets were sold at prices of NIS 90 for adults and NIS 45 for youth over the age of 16, soldiers, students and women (prices do not include commissions). In order to shorten the waiting times, the fans were asked to prepare the documents in advance and arrive at the time indicated on the card. In addition, they clarified that the fans must be careful to keep their distance, hygiene, avoid crowding and wearing a mask.

Owner Yoav Katz said: “I am very happy that the crowd is back on the pitches and we now need the encouragement of the fans we were missing, in order to get the points and not get involved in the underground struggles.” Team coach Haim Sylves: “This is a really exciting weekend. Hopefully this is the beginning of the return of the crowd that will paint the pitches in the stands.”

Rotem Segal, 34, a die-hard fan of the team, will arrive tomorrow to watch his team’s game. “On Saturday we will return to the stands and the air will return to the lungs. Since buying the ticket the smile does not go down, so true, the prices are high but we are a captive audience and among us the happiness that surrounds me since the purchase is worth every price, counting the minutes to date with love.

The Netanyaites will host Hapoel Hadera and the excitement at the crowd is great. The fans’ organization has decided that it will reach the stadium grounds in Netanya and encourage from the outside, when as of yesterday there are still tickets left at the box office.

A source at the club commented on the importance of returning the crowd for a team of the Maccabi Netanya type, and the planned adherence to the rules: “We need the crowd and its push at this stage of the season. We will adhere to the requirements of the administration in order to maintain the health of the fans.”

Even the fans themselves can no longer wait and Chico Finish, the team fan, sent a clear message: “Netanya without an audience is a team without a heart. We are coming to money-time and we will give everything to push the team to the top playoff.”

The northernmost club in the Premier League is very excited about the return of the crowd to the pitches in the home game, and another unparalleled challenge against the champion and table leader Maccabi Tel Aviv. 500 tickets out of 750 that were put up for sale have already been purchased, but the club understands that quite a few of the buyers are fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv who purchased online and came to collect them at the club’s box office.

Despite this, Kash urban fan Dudu Betito claimed: “I am very excited. “My child is small and he will not be able to enter because he has not yet been vaccinated, and that caused me quite a bit of trouble, but I am very happy that I will get to see a football game live.”

The club clarified that there will be no corner circles when it comes to adhering to the procedures of the Ministry of Health: “We will take care of everything, it means keeping distance and presenting a vaccinated certificate at the entrance – and our goal is that everything is done according to standards and requirements.”