Itzik towards | 03/02/2021 07:08
Joshua and Avi Rikan (Radad Jabara)
Great vigilance at Hapoel Beer Sheva ahead of the two hearings in the afternoon in the Football Association’s court, due to the dismissal of Aliniv Barda and especially due to Joshua’s incident with Avi Rikan at the end of the game against Maccabi Tel Aviv on Monday. As for Joshua, the club backs the Portuguese star and believes in his version in which he did not spit on the Maccabi Tel Aviv connection. The person who represented Be’er Sheva in the disciplinary case is the club’s legal advisor, Ido Bar Natan, who has been working for the past day to formulate the defense’s arguments.
It is estimated that Be’er Sheva is expected to adhere to two main lines of defense. First, the club obtained confirmation from the referees’ association that the incident had indeed been investigated by screen referee David Foxman who was not convinced with certainty that Joshua spat on a blank and did not signal Chief Referee Gal Leibowitz to draw a red card for an unsportsmanlike offense. According to the bylaws, the association’s prosecutor is authorized to summon an actor to disciplinary action only if the offense has disappeared from the judge’s eye. In such a situation, in Be’er Sheva they will claim that the hearing takes place in violation of the regulations, since the judging panel, including the VAR, did not reach the conclusion that this is an offense that requires removal with a red card.
The second concerns the question of whether or not Joshua spat on Avi Rikan. In Be’er Sheva, they claim that there was no spitting at all and there is no proof of this. The club knows that the videos show the execution of a spitting motion, as also written in the indictment of the disciplinary court, but will take a line where a rock trail cannot be clearly proven. “We watched dozens of times from all angles and there was no spitting. Since when is a player punished for spitting movement?”, They said in Beer Sheva.
The capital of the Negev knows that a complex hearing is expected and hopes that the judges will proceed as usual, using evidence of whether the offense was committed or not. In addition, the club expressed bewilderment about the summoning of contact Avi Rikan in the matter. “It’s clear that Riken will say that Joshua spat at him, he will not suddenly change his version. He made a provocation and saw according to his theatrical reaction, also in the season 3 game ago in Netanya against Maccabi Tel Aviv, Riken set a goal to get John Ugo out of focus Intentionally and managed to get him out with a red card, “said a source.
Be that as it may, the Reds’ fear is of Joshua’s dismissal for a few games, in which he may miss the cup game against the same Maccabi Tel Aviv on February 21. “If we were sure that Joshua spat at any player, we would send an apology and not come to the hearing at all, but there is talk about one player who because he was perceived as problematic he should be punished without real evidence of the offense,” said Be’er Sheva.
For the additional hearing that will take place today is in the case of Aliniv Barda, who was sent off with a red card following a dispute with referee Nael Odeh in the 0: 1 victory over Hapoel Hadera. In this situation, the club admits that Breda should not have come to the referee of the game in this approach and will note that Breda himself approached at the end to Odeh and apologized to him for his behavior. His clean sheet of conduct should serve his benefit and the aspiration that the tribunal will recognize this and not aggravate with the assistant coach.
