Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Beersheba are set for a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday over the brawl that followed the State Cup final, after the clubs agreed three weeks ago to postpone the session. The delay was meant to give both sides time to prepare and left open the possibility of a plea deal with the Israel Football Association prosecutor, but no talks took place, so the case will now be heard in detail.
The prosecutor is seeking tough penalties: six months away from stadiums for team manager Yoav Zeev, eight matches suspended and eight more suspended for Kristian Belic, eight matches suspended and eight more suspended for Kerwin Andrade, five matches suspended and five more suspended for Elad Madmon, and four matches suspended and four more suspended for Tyrese Asante.
Maccabi’s main argument is that Kings Kangwa of Beersheba started the trouble. The club says video footage shows Kangwa initiating the clash near Maccabi’s bench in the 94th minute, including elbows and punches toward Maccabi players, while the referee did not react. Maccabi also notes that Amir Saheti, not Kangwa, was shown the red card in the incident.
The club will argue that Beersheba started the violence after winning the league title at Maccabi’s expense a week before the cup final, while Maccabi had accepted its own defeat without incident when Beersheba lost the title race. Its lawyers say Maccabi was dragged into the fight and was acting in self-defense, trying to help players who were attacked. They also plan to present additional video showing other Beersheba players involved in the scuffle who were not summoned to the tribunal.
On individual charges, Maccabi says Elad Madmon was not involved at all and should not have been indicted. The club says Tyrese Asante was trying to stop Mohammed Abu Rumi from lunging at Itay Ben Hamo, and that footage shows he did not join the melee. As for Zeev, Maccabi says he went onto the pitch to separate the sides, pushed Asante back, moved aside Ido Shahar, and tried to pull Farhud away from Belic, with a leg movement that may have looked like a kick but was only an attempt to get between them.
