When visiting away fans are not permitted to attend a sporting event, especially one that is hotly contested, you know that unfortunately sports and perhaps society may be heading in the wrong direction. Instead of having two fan bases enjoying game action and also playing off one another, an event and a leisure activity that allows the spectator to forget the troubles and worries that may envelop the person has headed down the wrong path.

Beitar Jerusalem will welcome (maybe host would be a better word?) Bnei Sakhnin to a Matchday 14 date to open up the second round of Israel soccer league matches for the 2025/26 season on Monday night (20:30) and the away fans won’t be allowed in to Teddy Stadium. In the opening round of matches the same was true for Beitar supporters as they were not permitted to attend their club’s match up in the Galilee and also didn’t have the opportunity to celebrate with their heroes in what was a stellar 2-1 win for the yellow-and-black.

With no Beitar fans in the stands at Doha stadium, the players needed to celebrate the rare away victory in Sakhnin without the faithful, which was extremely unfortunate. This will once again repeat itself in the capital city as Sakhnin fans will be nowhere to be found at Teddy Stadium on this night, which once again just sends the wrong message to the sports industry here in Israel.

The decision that the league and various authorities made is yet another way that sports are being taken away from the fans and the team’s supporters. In recent weeks, we have seen both fans and the authorities taking one extreme step after the next in order to try to one up the other and the results have been disappointing to say the least.

Ultimately, what needs to happen is that the clubs, fans and authorities need to all get into a room and hash out their differences or else sports in the Holy Land will keep heading down the tubes and hit a point of no return. Cooler heads need to prevail or else everyone will be on the losing side.

Sports are supposed to be an entertainment outlet and not one that sees hate, dismay and violence. Soccer and basketball should be fun and exciting for the fans to be a part of and not something that perhaps is life or death especially after what this country has been through over the course of its history and most recently since October 7, 2023.

Enough of the rhetoric that will keep the sides at each others throats instead of working to bring the love and joy of what sports can be to the masses.

Turning to Monday’s Beitar game, Head Coach Barak Itzhaki spoke about not having away fans in attendance and its effect, “It will be difficult. It’s true they’ll be without fans, but we also played away without fans. The first-round match was tight. In games like these you sometimes struggle and need to know how to win. We were in Sakhnin without fans, and they’re coming to Teddy without fans as well. In my opinion, the influence of Beitar fans at an away match is greater than the influence of Sakhnin fans certainly at Teddy when it’s full so if anything, this goes against us.”

Portuguese keeper Miguel Silva shared his thoughts on the matter, “I think it’s good [that there will be no away fans]. I saw what it’s like when Teddy is full, it’s nice to feel the support but we need to put on a show for our fans and win.”

As for winning, Beitar has a rough game ahead and will want to collect 3-points after drawing in last week’s Derby in front of a sold out Teddy Stadium, “Of course we want to get back to winning ways. We’re going into a tough game, there are no easy games in the league. We’re coming into an important match for us after the previous draw. We struggled with the result; I watched the game several times. We had absolute control. There were moments when they managed to reach our goal through good transition attacks, but we created enough chances to win and controlled the game in an exceptional way. Still, not always when you control the game and create more chances do you win.”

Silva shared his thoughts on the previous game’s result, “A derby is a different game. Hapoel Jerusalem weren’t good in the league, but a derby is a match with a different feeling, and they came to compete and to win. It was difficult, we weren’t at our best, but that belongs in the past. We have a game we need to win and continue on our path.”

Obviously a win will keep Beitar in striking distance of Beer Sheva who recorded yet another win to open up the second round and collected 3-points to put them 8-points ahead of Beitar who can cut that to 5 with a win over Sakhnin.

In order for Barak Itzhaki’s side to compete for the title they will need to find a way to take the victory but will also have to out in a good second round of matches as well, “I believe that our expectations is do do better than we did and we have the conditions to do it,” Silva said. “The second round should be better than the first. I think we showed many good things this season and we gave a great squad. If we come with the right mentality to every game and work hard every week and if we do the right things, it’s possible. We’re close and we can achieve something good this season.”

Itzhaki himself wants to take the high road and the modest one, not wanting to be too loud about where he wants to see this season go, “I don’t think thinking creates reality and sometimes it’s the opposite. This isn’t the time for that. When we need to and when we’re there in the decisive moments, you’ll see it for yourselves. Right now we’re doing our job, we want to stay as close as possible to the top of the table. At the moment we’re there, and we need not to deal in slogans. This question comes up at every press conference, but this is the way I choose to deal with it because in my opinion it’s the right way and that’s how I’ll continue.”