The chaos and police brutality witnessed during the Sunday night soccer match in Tel Aviv serves as “yet another warning sign that has been rearing its head for years,” State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman said on Monday.
A long-awaited Tel Aviv soccer derby was set to take place at Bloomfield Stadium on Sunday evening, but the Israel Police called the event off following a series of disturbances that occurred before the match.
The police said that in the wake of the onslaught of verbal and physical incidents, they had determined that the conditions of the stadium were not secure enough.
Fans used fireworks and smoke grenades, wounding both spectators and cops alike. In turn, footage circulated on social media showed intense physical violence exacted by some police officers against the crowd.
Forty two people were wounded overall: 37 spectators and five police officers. Another 40 suspects were arrested.
State Comptroller probes sports fan violence
Englman noted that a report published by the State Comptroller’s Office four years ago titled “The Prevention of Violence in Sports – Expanded Follow-up Audit” had recommended that technological identification be used at sports games to prevent anyone who had been violent in the past from entering.
That report had also suggested installing recognition software to identify perpetrators of violence in real time.
“We cannot wait for a disaster to happen,” Englman said, calling on the National Security and Sports and Culture Ministries, along with the police and other relevant bodies, to act.