Sakhnin-Jerusalem soccer match given green light amid tensions

Police lifted a ban on a soccer match between soccer clubs Bnei Sakhnin and Beitar Jerusalem on Friday after improvements were made to ensure the personal security of fans.

The match, which is due to take place at Doha Stadium on Sunday in the Israeli-Arab city of Sakhnin in the Lower Galilee, was previously canceled by police, citing concerns to public safety.

The announcement that the game was set to proceed came after the Sakhnin team’s management boosted efforts to improve public security by hiring additional security personnel, providing buses for fans, laying down an additional access road in and out of the stadium, and issuing a statement urging fans to be remain civil during the match between the long-time rivals.

“We welcome the approval [to allow the game to happen in] Doha Stadium by the Israeli Police and call on fans from both teams to come and cheer within the accepted values of the sport,” Bnei Sakhnin club officials wrote in a statement published Friday.

Police had informed the Bnei Sakhnin club on Thursday that it was not permitted to host the match at its home stadium due to the lack of emergency exits and said the game must be held at an alternative venue. Authorities then issued a public order to close the area around the stadium.

Bnei Sakhnin’s management, however, insisted that the team would not play the emotionally charged game if it did not take place in its home stadium and immediately began working on a number of initiatives designed to improve fan safety.

While speaking with the commander of the Israeli Police’s Northern District, Zohar Dvir, Sakhnin Mayor Mazen Ghanayem assured authorities that no risks would be taken in hosting Sunday’s match.

“The most important thing for me is that the fans coming to see the game come out of here alive and well,” the mayor said while touring the area around the stadium. “If the [access road built by club officials] wasn’t 100 percent safe, I would not recommend this match be held.”

Bnei Sakhnin’s players and fans are overwhelmingly Israeli Arabs. The club has a traditional rivalry with Beitar Jerusalem, some of whose right-wing Jewish supporters are known for anti-Arab chanting during matches.

Recent matches between the teams have required up to 600 police officers, private security guards and undercover detectives, who have attempted to root out displays of hostility and calls of racist incitement between fans.

Sakhnin-Beitar matches in recent years have resulted in violent confrontations, riots and multiple arrests.

Bnei Sakhnin is the only Arab-Israeli club in the Premier League, the top division in the Israeli Football Association. Its state-of-the-art football stadium and sports complex was built with millions of dollars in donations from Qatar in 2005.