football

Beitar Jerusalem F.C. fans seen before the start of the match between their team and Hapoel Haifa F.C. at the final of the State Cup in the Teddy stadium, Jerusalem, May 9, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

With its racist history, can a Jerusalem football team accept an Arab owner?

As Emirati sheikh buys shares in Beitar Jerusalem, the notorious club is confronting its racist ultra-fans in hopes of reviving its competitive edge.

By Robert Swift January 4, 2021

Miri Regev with Beitar Jerusalem fans, January 22, 2018. (Screenshot from Miri Regev's Facebook video)

Israel’s sports minister posts video with genocidal chants by fans

At the end of a Facebook video encouraging sportsmanlike conduct by fans from one of Israel’s most notoriously racist soccer clubs, those surrounding Miri Regev break out into chants of ‘burn your village,’ directed at the opposing team — from an Arab city in Israel. It’s not every day that a senior government minister, who a…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man January 23, 2018

A woman holds her hand to her heart at a Donald Trump campaign event in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, November 3, 2016. (Noam Revkin FentonFlash90)

An Arab-American’s final thoughts before the election

The first time I got called a sandnigger I was one semester into an English Lit. degree at the University of Tennessee, where football — the kind that involves hands — was a game more urgent than war. In August of 1990, I said goodbye to my Palestinian family and set off to attend college…

By Samer Badawi November 4, 2016

Latest

After FIFA complaint, Israel lets Gaza soccer players travel to championship game in Hebron

The Palestine Cup final, which was originally scheduled to take place Saturday, was delayed due to an Israeli-imposed travel ban on 11 players from Gaza. Petition to boot Israeli settlement teams collects 150,000 signatures. By Yoni Mendel Seventy-two hours after Israel refused to allow 11 Palestinian soccer players travel from Gaza to the West Bank to participate…

By +972 Magazine August 1, 2016

Hebron’s Ahly al-Khalil plays Gaza-based Shejaiya in the 2015 Palestine Cup, held in Hebron, West Bank, August 14, 2015. Hebron won the title. (Flash90)

Palestinians turn to FIFA over Israeli restrictions

For the second time in a week, Israeli authorities place travel restrictions on players meant to participate in Palestine Cup matches. A motion to expel Israel from FIFA last year was withdrawn after Palestinians received assurances on freedom of movement. By Yoni Mendel The Palestinian Football Association said it will escalate its complaint with FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, over…

By +972 Magazine July 30, 2016

Tal Ben Haim of Maccabi Tel Aviv warming up before a game, September 16, 2015. (Joshjdss CC BY 2.0)

Israel’s most racist soccer club isn’t shouting ‘death to Arabs’

Compared to the overt, oft-condemned and penalized racism of Beitar Jerusalem, Maccabi Tel Aviv’s racism is more mainstream. That makes it more dangerous. An ugly brawl erupted on the soccer pitch on Tuesday at the end of a league match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Bnei Sakhnin, which is the most successful Palestinian club in…

By Rami Younis April 27, 2016

Asylum seekers from Holot play soccer with Israeli students in Be'er Sheva. (Social TV)

WATCH: Israeli students stage soccer tournament for refugees

Israel is imprisoning thousands of African asylum seekers in a desert detention facility called ‘Holot.’ A group of students and youngsters from Be’er Sheva, in southern Israel, recently organized a soccer tournament with the asylum seekers in an attempt to make them feel less isolated. Israeli authorities systematically deny the Sudanese and Eritrean asylum seekers…

By Social TV February 14, 2016

Beitar Jerusalem soocer club fans celebrate in Jerusalem after the team wins the Israeli championships.
Jerusalem, May 14, 2007.
Photo: Tess Scheflan/ Activestills.Org

What Israelis don’t get about attempts to boot Israel from FIFA

It is incomprehensible that one of the premier clubs in Israel doesn’t allow Arab players — because they are Arab. By Asaf Marziano The head of Palestinian Football Federation, Jibril Rajoub, is attempting to have Israel expelled from FIFA, soccer’s international governing body. The topic has been making headlines in Israel and internationally in recent…

By +972 Magazine May 25, 2015

Palestinian soccer star Ashraf Nuaman. (photo: Nasya Bahfen CC BY-ND 2.0)

How one soccer match tells the entire Palestinian story

On Friday morning, the Palestine national soccer team will face off against Jordan, a team with a majority of Palestinian players, in the Asian Cup. Whether they choose to or not, the 22 players on the field will tell the story of refugees, occupation, checkpoints and the connection between home and diaspora. Oh, and they’ll…

By +972 Magazine January 15, 2015

Poster for the release of Mahmoud Sarsak

Hunger striking Palestinian footballer at risk of death

Mahmoud Sarsak, midfielder for the Palestinian national football team, has been on hunger strike for 82 days in protest of his detention without trial. Physicians for Human Rights has expressed “grave concern for his life.” Sarsak (25) is a resident of the Rafah refugee camp and a prominent player in the Palestinian national football team.…

By Haggai Matar June 8, 2012