Hapoel Jerusalem FC Outraged Over Refereeing After Latest Loss

Hapoel Jerusalem FC is expressing significant frustration and anger following their 1-0 defeat to Hapoel Petah Tikva on Saturday, their second consecutive loss to start the season. The team, which previously suffered a 5-0 defeat against Maccabi Tel Aviv, feels they were unfairly treated by the referees.

Club officials lamented their performance, stating, "We were full throttle in neutral. We controlled the game without managing to create truly dangerous chances." They also acknowledged their attempt to implement a new, less defensive style of play, admitting, "We are unfortunately accustomed to disappointing season starts, we hope to get on track quickly."

A major point of contention was the referee's decision to overrule a VAR-recommended penalty for Hapoel Jerusalem. The club highlighted a pattern of unfavorable decisions, noting, "In recent years, there have been five such cases where a referee did not accept the VAR decision. Three of them were against Hapoel Jerusalem. Two of them were by Foxman." They questioned, "How long will we tolerate this arbitrariness?! How long will we tolerate a referees' committee that says too late that we were right? There was a million percent penalty."

Despite their grievances, Hapoel Jerusalem acknowledged the need for improvement, stating, "These are not excuses, we should have played better and won despite the mistake. We will try to fix it next Saturday against Kiryat Shmona." The team is also still looking to strengthen its squad, hoping to sign an additional foreign attacking player before the transfer window closes.