The bad energies from the last Haifa derby did not start with San Menachem’s “Go Home” roar. There were days when a Maccabi player would shout things like that and everyone would disperse quietly. Menachem did not swear, did not insult, but said “go home”, and I believe him that the word “rags” was not there, because that is exactly what I heard from the empty stands of Sami Ofer Stadium.
It was an outburst of emotion, like a true athlete achieving a goal. The derby has become a big goal for Maccabi in recent years. The Green Club finished a golden age that began in the early 1980s with wholesale wins in championships and trophies and continued with heroic participation in the Champions League, home stages in the Europa League and great achievements in the European arena.
Then came the move to Sami Ofer. Just then, when a stadium was built following the club’s achievements to honor these classes, it collapsed like the Lehman Brothers bank at the height of the subprime collapse in America. Despite the presence of tens of thousands of spectators in every game against Kfar Saba or Raanana, the audience and the setting in the stands did not get to watch the huge team from Kiryat Eliezer. Maccabi Haifa has gone through a catastrophic decade, including a professional collapse, a large number of coaches changed and thousands of fans left disappointed. So until the patient recovers, will he not shout so that everyone will hear that he has woken up from a coma?
Speaking of emotions in derby games, then the turning point was in 2017, when Hapoel Haifa added Gabriel Tamash to its ranks. Professionally, the Romanian is a huge player, but he has brought with him in my opinion norms of misconduct to the football pitches, disrespect for the opponent and disproportionate defiance. Contrary to the words of San Menachem, the lyrics of the songs that Tamash would sing and shout after the derbies ruled in red, can not be written here. Have we seen mass brawls after the same teasing of Tamash? Definately not.
In the last two decades, the Reds have finished only once before Maccabi in the table, and that is when one decade is Maccabi’s worst in 40 years. Since the arrival of Tamash Hapoel knew how to “take” the derby, she simply realized that playing on urban hegemony is the most important thing for her fans. It felt as if the relative success against Maccabi charged the rivalry between the clubs. Like a climber who has reached the summit, holding it by the nails so as not to fall down. When it happened last season, and Maccabi did not lose a single derby, it was difficult for Hapoel to release, and from here, in my opinion, the explosion came last Wednesday.
Fighting roosters, hands, urgency, cursing, are not something to be encouraged, but feel like all the righteous were sitting in a corner waiting for it to happen. Several times we have seen clashes in the Clasico between Barça and Real, in meetings between Celtic and Rangers or in games between Boca against River and I have never heard or read a demand for severe penalties.
This time, all of a sudden beautifiers of all kinds are calling for a reduction of points, expulsions for four or five games, some out of interest or sympathy for other teams, and the one who understands will understand. I want to read the verdict on the cry “Go home”, which caused a ban from four games.
It’s like a fisherman accidentally entering China’s territorial waters, but suddenly he hears that they want to erase the village he came from: an unusual disproportion. Suddenly the Minister of Sports, Hili Trooper, forgot that he had a corona crisis to conduct or elections in about a month, and came out with a call for severe punishment. It is appropriate that the Minister of Sports should not put pressure on the courts of the Football Association, because that is really not his job. It feels to me like the media inflated the balloon so big that it reached the court door and would not allow the judges to enter. When the balloon is in the doorway of the court, it will explode in the face of us all.
I call on everyone here to put out the flames. Green and red alike. To commentators, stakeholders and ministers. The captains of the two teams, Neta Lavie and Dor Malul, have already found the time to meet and put everything behind them. And what is left up front? The hearing is on Wednesday. I have a feeling he will take everyone back a few steps.
