Ofer Yannay Slams Decision Not to Charge Maccabi Tel Aviv Players

Hapoel Tel Aviv owner Ofer Yannay again criticized, on Thursday, the decision not to indict Maccabi Tel Aviv players over the incidents at the end of Game 1 of the playoff final. After making similar remarks the day before, he posted another video to fans on his private Instagram account.

Yannay said he was still focused on what he described as the attack on a Hapoel supporter on the court. He claimed he had read the federation’s and the league’s observers’ reports, and that both described events that did not happen. According to him, the reports said the fan cursed, but “he did not curse.”

He said he had spoken that morning with Dave Lobetsky, who had been sitting behind the fan, and that Lobetsky told him the only words said were “GO HOME.” Yannay also questioned why the federation prosecutor did not remove Jalen, Brist and Reiman after they approached. “How can that be? That is the rule,” he said.

Yannay added that the reports from the league and the federation described “a reality that was not.” He said the league representative was sitting on the opposite side of the court and could not have heard the alleged insult from that distance. When he asked the official to change the report, he said, “he is not willing.” Yannay concluded that “the systems are simply broken,” and asked who broke them, how badly they were damaged, and by what means.