Bnei Raina Owner Faces Six-Month Ban for Referee Abuse

The Football Association prosecutor, Adv. Gilad Bergman, has filed a severe indictment against Saeed Basoul, the owner of the Bnei Raina football club. According to the report by referee Niv Arad, who officiated the match between Rishon LeZion and Bnei Raina, Basoul entered the field after Rishon LeZion's Liel Chana scored an equalizer. Basoul approached the fourth official, Aviel Levi, and later, at halftime, waited near the referees' locker room with other Bnei Raina representatives. There, he allegedly shouted at referee Arad, "Zero, you're a potted plant, a disgrace, you came to learn at our expense, don't look at me, idiot."

Basoul has a suspended six-month ban from stadiums for confronting and insulting a referee, stemming from a previous incident last year when his team played against Bnei Sakhnin. At that time, the association's prosecutor had requested a one-year ban, but the tribunal imposed a six-game actual suspension and added the six-month suspended sentence. The indictment suggests that the tribunal may now have limited discretion in applying the suspended sentence.