Betar Jerusalem fans 370.
(photo credit: Nir Elias/Reuters)
Police arrested a 60-year-old Jewish man on Tuesday afternoon for threatening a
guard working for the Betar Jerusalem soccer team.
“You’re a big man,
guarding players, but I will break your arms and legs, we know where you live
and we will come to your home,” the suspect allegedly told the guard in a heavy
Russian accent over the telephone.
Police checked phone records and
traced the threatening phone call to the home of one of the Betar players’
family members.
When police officers arrived at the home and
investigated, they determined that a man related to one of the players had made
the call. He admitted to the call and told police officers it was a “prank
call.” He was detained for questioning and then released on conditions, pending
further investigation.
Betar Jerusalem fans are furious over owner Arkadi
Gaydamak’s announcement that the club has signed two Muslim players, Dzhabrail
Kadiyev and Zaur Sadayev, from the Chechen team Terek Grozny.
During the
January 26 game against Bnei Yehuda, fans raised an enormous banner that read
“Betar pure forever” and sang anti-Arab chants.
Police have arrested more
than a dozen people involved in the incident with the banner.
Over the
past week, three fans were also arrested after they showed up outside of the
team’s Friday practice and threw rocks at the players’ cars and attacked a
security guard.