Coming together through sport my ass…

It was hard to resist not watching last night’s football match between bitter rivals Betar Jerusalem and Bnai Sakhnin. Yeah, I could have watched Mythbusters test the theory that toothbrushes kept in the bathroom with your toilet absorb airborne fecal matter, but I’ve seen that one before.

Betar, being the traditional team of Israel’s right wing with..ahem…let’s say overzealous fans against Israel’s most successful Arab-Israeli team (which has Jewish players as well). It was a powder keg waiting to explode. Only 300 Betar fans were allowed to attend the game at Bnai Sakhnin’s brand new stadium (paid for by the lovely country of Qatar) but despite the small crowd of Betar fans there were scuffles throughout the game, including Sakhnin fans throwing flares at Betar’s goalie.

It wasn’t until the game ended when the shit really hit the fan. The game ended in a tie and neither the Betar or Sakhnin fans were too happy about it. On last night’s news I heard that the violence began when Bnai Sakhnin fans (who exited the stadium first) began lobbing rocks over the fences at the Betar fans. At that point pretty much all three hundred of the Betar fans stormed the pitch. It was absolute chaos and legions of Betar fans attempted to storm the booth where Channel Ten was interviewing Bnai Sakhnin Captain (and a star player for Israel’s national team) Abbas Suwan. One Betar fan actually managed to break in to the studio and scream at the commentators on live TV.

I read this morning that Gaydamak’s car was vandalized by Sakhnin fans. Both teams’ fans acted in a repulsive manner. Big thumbs down to the 250 police officers who were incapable of controlling the crowds. Like they didn’t anticipate trouble. For real.

There was talk a few months ago that Betar club owner Arkady Gaidamak was interest in signing Suwan to Betar. While the violence was going on one of the commentators says to Suwan, “Perhaps it is too early.” The understatement of the fucking year.

Oh, and toothbrushes kept near the toilet do indeed collect fecal matter, just not enough to be considered harmful.