Israeli football's professional committee has ruled that no foul was committed in the penalty award that decided little on the scoreboard but plenty in the officiating debate after Maccabi Haifa's season-opening win over Hapoel Ramat Gan.
Haifa won 2-1 at Sammy Ofer Stadium on Saturday, with Brazilian midfielder Bruninho scoring twice - in the 22nd minute and again just after the restart - before Maxim Plakushchenko pulled one back for newly promoted Ramat Gan in the 61st minute.
The contentious moment came late on, when striker Andrija Novakovich went down in the box under a challenge from Moshe Semel and the referee pointed to the spot. VAR called him over for a second look, and after a review at the pitchside monitor that dragged on, he chose to stick with his original call.
Novakovich, a 29-year-old American-Serbian forward, joined Haifa this summer after two seasons in Italy's Serie B with Reggiana, where he scored five goals last term. His arrival had been billed as one of the club's marquee signings of the window.
Eitan Azulai stepped up to take the penalty but saw his effort saved by goalkeeper Amit Reif, who then smothered the rebound as well - sparing Ramat Gan, back in the top flight for the first time in 13 years, an even heavier defeat.
According to ONE, the professional committee published its findings on Sunday and sided firmly with VAR's original recommendation. "No offence of tripping was committed," the committee ruled, adding that the referee should have accepted the VAR's recommendation to cancel the penalty.
The committee did not stop there. It also criticised how long the referee spent at the pitchside monitor, saying the review "was excessively long and contradicted guidelines" - a rebuke of process on top of the reversal of the on-field call itself.
Because Azulai missed regardless, the ruling changes nothing about the final score - Haifa still opened the new Ligat Ha'al season with three points. But it feeds into a wider grumble from clubs and pundits this season about VAR intervention times and consistency in Israeli football.
Ramat Gan, promoted back to the top flight after more than a decade away, showed they will not be pushovers, twice threatening an equaliser before running out of time. Haifa, for their part, will be relieved this particular officiating debate is academic rather than costly.
