Beitar defeats Hapoel Tel Aviv 1-0, but victory is overshadowed by team owner finding a grenade under his car.
By ALLON SINAIBEITAR JERUSALEM’S Andres Tunez 370(photo credit: Asaf Kliger)
With all that had gone on off the pitch, Beitar Jerusalem needed the exhilarating victory over Hapoel Tel Aviv on Monday night to remind everyone that it is first and foremost a soccer club.An 84th-minute winner by Nisso Kapiloto gave Beitar a 1-0 win over its arch-rival and capped a fantastic sporting night in front of 30,000 fans at Teddy Stadium.However, Beitar’s Premier League encounter at Hapoel Acre on Saturday night will yet again be overshadowed by a disturbing incident that goes against everything sports should represent.New Beitar owner Eli Tabib found a grenade underneath his car outside his home in Kfar Shmaryahu on Thursday morning.Tabib had already driven away in the car with his wife and two children when a neighbor alerted him to the fact that there is a grenade laying on the parking spot he had just left.Police later determined that it was a dead grenade and was likely placed under Tabib’s car to send him a message.The Police investigators have yet to establish who would want to threaten Tabib, but the Beitar owner seems to be adamant that the latest incident is the result of his involvement in Israeli soccer.“Tabib doesn’t have any businesses in Israel, apart from his ownership of Beitar Jerusalem,” read a club press release. “It is important that everyone remembers that despite all the emotions around the game, this is just sports.”This isn’t the first time Tabib has found himself involved in such an occurrence. In December 2011, while he was the owner of Hapoel Tel Aviv, a stun grenade was thrown into his garden while he was away in the US.Tabib is also currently standing trial for attacking a minor and disruption of justice relating to an incident outside his home last year during a protest by Hapoel fans.Hapoel Tel Aviv has got just eight points from six matches following the defeat at Teddy, but it will have an ideal opportunity to get back on track when it visits the floundering Hapoel Ramat Hasharon on Saturday.Rock-bottom Ramat Hasharon has lost all six of its games this season by a combined goal difference of 2-15.Also Saturday, Hapoel Beersheba will hope to get back to winning ways after suffering its first defeat of the season when it visits Ashdod SC, while Ironi Kiryat Shmona hosts Maccabi Petah Tikva and Bnei Yehuda welcomes Hapoel Ra’anana.Maccabi Haifa faces Hapoel Haifa in the derby on Sunday, with league-leader Maccabi Tel Aviv welcoming surprise-package Bnei Sakhnin to Bloomfield Stadium on Monday.
Related TagsHapoel Tel Aviv
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