Author: Peter Lyukimson, Israel, exclusively for VK
"The break" - this is what sports commentators in Israel called the
67th minute of the match between Jerusalem "Betar" against the
team of the Arab city of Sakhnin "Beit Sakhnin," when Chechen
player Jebrail Kadayev came on the pitch to replace an injured
player of "Beitar".
Hundreds of fans of "Beitar" stood up at this moment from their seats,
shouted "Shame!" and "Beitar is a Jewish Club!" But at the same
moment thousands of fans of the team stood up to applause and welcome the
Chechen football players and drown out the cries. Thus, it became clear
that fans of "Beitar" were divided between those who continue to
protest against the club attracting foreign players, Muslims, and
those who believed that the former players from "Terek" may well wear
the form of the famous Jerusalem club. The latter were clearly in the
majority.
"Beitar played that night to a 2:2 draw. But in fact, this draw was
a victory. A victory over our home chauvinists!" the
famous Israeli sports commentator Akiva Novick stated.
It is worth noting that shortly before the match, the Chechen players
met with the former head of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the Knesset
and the loyal fan of "Beitar" Avigdor Lieberman. "I just thought that a
few words of encouragement in Russian would help these guys. They need
to know that we're really glad they are here, and those who are
shouting insults at them are just a handful of idiots! " Lieberman
explained.
Meanwhile, Jerusalem police arrested four fans of "Beitar" suspected
of setting fire to the office of this team and two others, shouting racist slogans
during a match with "Beit Sakhnin".
