Gidi Lipkin 16/02/2021 10:10
Yosefi vs. Rikan. Bardak in the making (Martin Gutdamek)
The celebratory announcement yesterday (Monday) about the return of the crowd to the sports stadiums starting this coming Sunday has created a big behind-the-scenes mess. On the one hand, this is a happy announcement for sports fans, but on the other hand, the decision to allow only 500 people to reach the football stadiums means – as if no decision had been made at all on the return of the crowd.
The decision is that only those who have been vaccinated or become ill in Corona and recover will be able to attend the sports games. This means that children and teenagers, a large percentage of those present at the games, will not be able to enter the football and basketball stadiums in the near future. This is an absurd decision that can not pass the High Court. On the other hand, the decision to open the hotels stipulates that children and teenagers up to the age of 16 will be able to enter subject to a negative corona check.
The administration of the football and basketball leagues demand that the decision be changed to about 30% of the contents of the stadium or field, when they open all the entrance gates. As far as the football manager is concerned each stand is entered separately so there will be no problem.
In yesterday’s decision that restricts the entry of 300 fans in closed pitches and 500 fans in open pitches, there is a big problem that worries everyone, including the police: it is clear that the demand for people will exceed the supply of 500 people and there is already such a game this coming Sunday between Hapoel Beer Sheva and Maccabi Tel Spring in the State Cup.
This will require from the police a very large deployment of security forces, when it is not clear who will pay for it. The game in the first is just an example of this, so the administration wants to immediately allow the number of fans to be increased to about 30% of the stadium’s contents, with 500 fans doing only damage. It is impossible to compare football to the return of culture, where you will get to performances and theater performances exactly the amount that should enter. In the case of the sport there is a danger that many fans will try to enter and there will be a safety hazard and a crowd that will lead to infection with the virus.
In yesterday’s announcement of the decision to return the crowd, the government did not determine who would be responsible for checking the crowd of fans at the entrances in terms of tickets, a green sign and a security check. It was also not determined who would oversee and criticize the sale of tickets.
Today there is supposed to be a special meeting between the football and basketball administrations, the people of the Ministry of Health and the police to see how all the obstacles are overcome and how the principals’ demand to increase the number of crowd entries is promoted.
