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Football

Court refuses to ban Champions tie


story.maccabi.afp.jpg
Maccabi's Aldo Ishmael, left, in action during the third qualifying round home tie against PAOK Salonika

JERUSALEM, Israel (Reuters) -- Israel's supreme court on Monday said it could not stop Maccabi Tel Aviv's Champions League tie against Bayern Munich in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, the eve of the Jewish New Year holiday.

Two groups petitioned the court last week asking it to force various Israeli authorities to stop the fixture because it undermined Jewish values.

The panel of three judges threw out one plea while the other was withdrawn.

The court said Maccabi and the Israeli FA had tried to reschedule the match, but ultimately it was the decision of European soccer's ruling body, UEFA.

"There are many in Israel who were not pleased that the match was set for the eve of Rosh Hashana (New Year), but once the decision was taken and it became clear that the dates would not be changed, the authorities were forced to prepare (for the match)," the judges said in their ruling.

"We cannot tell Maccabi not to play the game and we have no jurisdiction in this matter."

Switzerland-based UEFA are not answerable to the court because it rules on disputes and grievances between Israeli citizens and national state institutions.

The judges also said halting the match would incur huge financial losses and possible expulsion from the competition for the club and do untold damage to the reputation of Israeli soccer and sport in general.

Although the majority of Israel's Jewish population are not defined as religious, the traditional New Year's Eve evening meal is a time when families meet to celebrate.

By the end of last week the club claimed to have sold almost 10,000 ticket packages for all three of their Group C Champions League fixtures at home against Bayern, Ajax Amsterdam of the Netherlands (November 3) and Italy's Juventus (December 8).

The club said they expected up to 40,000 spectators for the match against Bayern, which is the first Champions League match to be held in Israel.

Hashemian dilemma

Bayern Munich's Iranian striker Vahid Hashemian will not travel to Israel for Wednesday's match.

The German Bundesliga club said the decision had been taken on Monday because the player had a back injury.

Iran's citizens are forbidden from travelling to Israel and Hashemian's possible visit had raised a comment from an Iranian sports official.

"The presence of an Iranian athlete as an individual or as part of a team (in Israel) is forbidden according to the policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Mohammad Derakhshan, an official from Iran's Physical Training Organisation, was quoted as saying by the ISNA students news agency.

"Their presence as part of a foreign team is a new issue and will have to be discussed," he added.

Bayern coach Magath must now do without striker Hashemian in Israel

Bayern coach Felix Magath had said on Sunday that he planned to take Hashemian to Israel.

Magath said then that he had taken the decision after discussing the political aspect of the issue with the player, who had agreed to go.

A Bayern spokesman said on Monday that the decision not to take Hashemian to Israel had been motivated only by his physical condition.

"He's got back pain and he couldn't train today," the spokesman said. "It would have made no sense for him to go."

Iran gave judo world champion Arash Miresmaeili a $125,000 reward earlier this month, saying he sacrificed a gold medal by refusing to fight an Israeli at last month's Athens Olympics.

The International Judo Federation had considered a sanction against Miresmaeili during the Games but concluded that he had been overweight for the fight and could not have taken part.

Iran has refused to recognise the Jewish state's right to exist since its 1979 Islamic revolution.


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