Hapoel Tel Aviv have been fined €43,000 and will be barred from selling tickets to their travelling fans for one away match in Europe, UEFA's punishment for pyrotechnics and stadium damage caused by supporters during last Thursday's scoreless Conference League play-off opener against Atalanta, ONE reported.
UEFA's disciplinary body charged the club on two counts: the ignition of pyrotechnic devices in the away end during the August 20 match in Bergamo, and damage caused to the stadium and its facilities by Hapoel supporters. The pyrotechnics charge carried a €35,000 fine, with a further €8,000 imposed for the physical damage - a total of €43,000, according to ONE.
The immediate sporting sanction is a ban on ticket sales to Hapoel fans for the club's next away fixture in a UEFA competition. UEFA also suspended a further ticket-sale ban for two years, meaning any repeat offence in that window would trigger an additional, non-suspended punishment.
Among the damage listed was 22 seats destroyed or broken, cracked glass paneling, torn protective netting and a broken fire extinguisher door in the away sector, ONE reported. UEFA has also ordered Hapoel to contact Atalanta directly within 30 days to arrange payment for the repairs.
The trouble in Bergamo was not entirely unexpected. Mako reported that security stopped two Hapoel supporters before kickoff carrying roughly 45 kilograms of smoke grenades and fireworks between them, at a fixture already played under heavy security.
None of it affected what happened on the pitch. Hapoel held out for a credible 0-0 draw away to a full-strength Atalanta side that finished third in Serie A last season and reached the Champions League, a result that leaves Thursday's return leg finely poised.
ONE noted that the new sanction builds on an earlier, suspended punishment UEFA issued on August 5 over a previous pyrotechnics case involving the club - a sign that Hapoel's disciplinary record in Europe has already been tested more than once this summer.
The return leg goes ahead on Thursday at a neutral venue in Miskolc, Hungary, where Hapoel have been staging their UEFA home fixtures this season. Victory would send the club into the Conference League's league phase for the first time since 2013, a prize that has generated some of the biggest anticipation around an Israeli European campaign in years.
For now, the financial and administrative fallout lands on the club rather than the squad preparing for Thursday - though the suspended ban stands as a formal warning that another pyrotechnics incident in Europe within the next two years would carry a heavier price.
