Gidi Lipkin
Team fans (Radad Jabara, Itai Cohen, Itzik Belnitzi and Omri Stein)
Returning to the pitches – but in small quantities. The board of directors of the football leagues today (Monday) approved the outline imposed by the Ministry of Health. Meaning: Starting this weekend, football fans will be able to return to the pitches in the Premier League and the National League – up to 1,500 people in the big stadiums (over 10,000 seats) and up to 750 in the small ones. Each home group will decide whether to allow an outside audience to enter.
Each team will have to see how it copes with the small number of fans, which mainly creates a problem for the big teams like Maccabi Tel Aviv, Maccabi Haifa, Hapoel Beer Sheva, Betar Jerusalem and Hapoel Tel Aviv. The smaller teams, which have no fan base regardless of the corona virus Large, you will be able to cope and get along with a relatively small number of fans.
The first game with an audience will start on Saturday at 15:00, when Hapoel Tel Aviv will host Bnei Sakhnin for a bottom battle in Bloomfield. Later on, the games will take place: Maccabi Netanya – Hapoel Hadera, Hapoel Haifa – MS Ashdod and Kiryat Shmona – Maccabi Tel Aviv. On Sunday, Maccabi Petah Tikva will host Hapoel Beer Sheva, Betar Jerusalem will host Hapoel Kfar Saba and Bnei Yehuda will host Maccabi Haifa.
Principal’s notice: “The board of directors of the leagues has decided to accept the decision of the Corona Cabinet to return the crowd to the pitches. According to the established rules, a stadium with a capacity of over 10,000 seats can accommodate up to 1,500 spectators. A stadium with less than 10,000 seats can accommodate up to 750 spectators. At this stage (until the terms of the outline change) each home group will be able to allow an outside audience to enter at its discretion. The outline for the entry of the crowd will start from the round that will be held this weekend (National League from Friday 12.03 and the Stock Exchange League from Saturday 13.03). safely”.
Kalfon: “The government is called upon to accept the principal’s outline”
Chairman of the Board, Erez Kalfon: “Over the past few weeks we have made tremendous efforts to create an outline that will allow a larger and more logical audience to enter. We presented to the Ministry of Health a detailed plan that could allow thousands of spectators to enter safely, which was unfortunately rejected. Accordingly, we are forced to accept the Ministry of Health’s instructions. “The crowd that is so lacking on the pitches. We do this with great concern, because in our opinion, under the conditions set by the Ministry of Health, there is great difficulty in the success of the pilot, but despite this, every effort will be made to prove that the crowd can be absorbed under these conditions.”
We call on the Israeli government to accept the administrative outline that allows the entry of a defined percentage of each stadium’s stand (and not an absolute amount without managerial logic in relation to the content of each of the stadium’s stands) and to allow an increase in spectators from the next beat on 21.03. I call on all the fans who come to the stadiums to follow the guidelines of the Ministry of Health so that we can prove that it is possible to bring in an audience safely and increase the number of fans entering the games. “
Minister of Culture and Sports, Hili Trooper: “I congratulate the team leaders and the principals, both in football and basketball, on the important decision to return the fans to the courts and halls! After about a year, the crowd finally returns and this after hard work and insistence on allowing fans who have not stopped missing to strengthen and encourage the teams. We will continue to work hard so that the numbers increase and we will not rest until the entire audience returns to the pitches in a safe and careful manner. “
