Israeli Football Disciplinary Panel Approves Plea Deal, Softens Penalties for Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Be'er Sheva Players

After weeks of deliberation, the Israeli Football Association's disciplinary tribunal approved a plea agreement involving Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Be'er Sheva, and the association's prosecutor concerning incidents at the end of the State Cup final. Despite approving the deal, the panel issued a stern warning to both clubs, condemning the events as disgraceful and emphasizing that future similar cases would not see plea deals but harsher penalties.

The disciplinary panel reduced the original suspensions and fines for players and officials from both teams. For Maccabi Tel Aviv, Kevin Andrade received a 7-match suspension plus 7 conditional matches, down from 8 and 8; Christian Blitz was suspended for 5 matches plus 5 conditional, reduced from 8 and 8; Elad Madmon got 3 matches plus 3 conditional, down from 5 and 5; Tyrese Asante was suspended for 1 match plus 2 conditional, reduced from 4 and 4; and team manager Yoav Ziv was banned for 3 months, halving the original 6-month suspension. Maccabi Tel Aviv was also fined approximately 114,000 shekels for racist chants and disturbances.

For Hapoel Be'er Sheva, Prahoud was suspended for 5 matches plus 5 conditional, reduced from 6 and 6; Zahi Ahmed received 4 matches plus 4 conditional, down from 5 and 5; Javon East and Abu Romi each got 3 matches plus 3 conditional, reduced from 5 and 5; and Hamudi Kana'an received 2 conditional matches with no active suspension, down from 4 and 4.

The tribunal's statement highlighted the severity of the misconduct and made clear that the leniency shown in this case would not be repeated. The final decision marks the conclusion of the disciplinary process related to the State Cup final incidents.