{"id":172076,"date":"2025-12-07T09:30:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T09:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/172076\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T09:30:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T09:30:17","slug":"hapoel-tel-aviv-soccer-fans-barred-from-game-for-wearing-shirts-calling-cops-scum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/172076\/","title":{"rendered":"Hapoel Tel Aviv soccer fans barred from game for wearing shirts calling cops ‘scum’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fans of Hapoel Tel Aviv were barred from Tel Aviv\u2019s Bloomfield Stadium on Saturday after showing up to a soccer match against Hapoel Petah Tikvah in t-shirts labelling the Israel Police, a rival soccer team and an outlawed political party \u201cscum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Responding to the decision to prevent fans from entering the stadium, the Hapoel Tel Aviv fan club, Ultras Hapoel, called on all its supporters to boycott the game altogether, leaving much of the stadium empty during the match.<\/p>\n

The fans had arrived at the stadium wearing red shirts that read: \u201cUltra Hapoel against the scum,\u201d above the logos of the Israel Police, the banned Jewish supremacist Kach party and the Maccabi soccer club.<\/p>\n

The shirts were deemed to be incitement against the police and fans wearing them were therefore blocked from entering, an officer told the Haaretz newspaper. According to the officer, supporters of Hapoel Tel Aviv were warned in advance that they would be barred from the game if they insisted on wearing the shirts.<\/p>\n

Ultras Hapoel said in a statement, however, that its fans had only decided to wear the shirts after police announced last week that they would not be allowed to bring placards or flags to the game against Hapoel Petah Tikvah.<\/p>\n

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Rather than immediately causing a ruckus over the issue, the fan club said its members decided to \u201cbite our tongues\u201d so as not to harm the team or the game, and had \u201carrived normally\u201d at the stadium on Saturday.<\/p>\n

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\u05e9\u05d0\u05e8 \u05d4\u05d9\u05e6\u05d9\u05e2 \u05d9\u05e6\u05d0 \u05d4\u05d7\u05d5\u05e6\u05d4 \u2013 \u05db\u05d9 \u05e1\u05d5\u05dc\u05d9\u05d3\u05e8\u05d9\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d9\u05d0 \u05d4\u05e0\u05e9\u05e7 \u05d4\u05db\u05d9 \u05d7\u05d6\u05e7 \u05de\u05d5\u05dc \u05e4\u05d0\u05e9\u05d9\u05d6\u05dd \u05d5\u05d0\u05dc\u05d9\u05de\u05d5\u05ea.#\u05e8\u05e7\u05d4\u05e4\u05d5\u05e2\u05dc<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/qVrdUISpLU<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Haim Har-Zahav (@haimhz) December 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cApparently, there are new procedures in Jaffa,\u201d it said, portraying the incident as one in which \u201canyone wearing a shirt that isn\u2019t visible to the police is thrown out, beaten, arrested.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cSigns, drums, flags, merchandise \u2014 everything is out,\u201d the statement said, adding that the fan club \u201cwill not give a hand to this circus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hapoel Tel Aviv, which won the match 4-0, said afterwards that it would have \u201creally wanted to celebrate the victory with our entire community, but we are unfortunately in a terrible time when fans of a particular team are being abused and mistreated just because they are fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

It urged the relevant legal bodies to prevent police from ousting fans again in the future and to protect the game\u2019s \u201cindependence and legitimacy,\u201d saying that \u201cthis had nothing to do with football or sports, and we will not accept it, we will not put up with it, and we will not tolerate it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pushing back against criticism, the Israel Police said the incident concerned a \u201chandful of fans [who] arrived at the stadium wearing shirts with a print blatantly insulting Israel Police and another rival team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe police\u2019s action is in accordance with the law, and the police have the authority to prevent entry if there is a real concern about a breach of order to prevent harm to life and property,\u201d the police insisted.<\/p>\n

It is not the first time that Hapoel Tel Aviv and its fans have butted heads with law enforcement.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tPolice stand guard after the Israeli Premier League match between Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Tel Aviv was canceled at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, on October 19, 2025. (Flash90)<\/p>\n

In October, police canceled a much-anticipated derby match between the team and Maccabi Tel Aviv after a riot broke out ahead of the match, also in Bloomfield Stadium.<\/p>\n

Police said fans threw objects at officers, lightly injuring them, and hurled flares and smoke bombs onto the field ahead of the game.<\/p>\n

The following week, the soccer club threatened to boycott its cup final match after the police published a video comparing its fans to violent rioters in East Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

The club accused police of incitement against its supporters and warned that it would not take part in the cup final amid \u201cdeliberate police violence against our fans.\u201d It ultimately participated in the match, which it lost to Beitar Jerusalem.<\/p>\n


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