Published: 28 June 2019
Last updated: 4 March 2024
THE BEITAR JERUSALEM SOCCER team's signing a new player for next season would have mostly gone unnoticed under normal circumstances. This time, however, the story made the headlines throughout the country and even abroad. What made it front-page news was the new player’s name — Ali Mohamed — which flew in the face of the team’s most racist fans.
Some of these die-hard fans are members of a group called La Familia, known not only for their fanatical adulation of the team but also for their intense racism and hatred of Arabs, something they publicly admit.
In August 2018, the leaders of La Familia met with Beitar owner Moshe Hogeg and made it perfectly clear to him that they would do everything they can to block any attempt to recruit Muslim players.
These fans' racism reached its peak in 2013, when then-owner of the club and businessman Arkady Gaydamak recruited two Chechen Muslims — Dzhabrail Kadiyev and Zaur Sadayev — despite La Familia's bitter opposition.
Fans responded by cursing the players during training sessions and games, setting fire to the Beitar offices, and booing and walking out when Sadayev scored a goal for the team. In a matter of months, the two men broke down, quit the team and left Israel for good.
FULL STORY First Mohamed to play for Jerusalem soccer team results in racist reaction (Al-Monitor)
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Photo: Ali Mohamed (Facebook)
