Hapoel Tel Aviv's fans lit flares again on Thursday night, this time inside the away end at Atalanta's stadium in Bergamo during the club's Conference League play-off round qualifier, and the club is now waiting to see whether UEFA activates a suspended punishment that has been hanging over it since the summer, Sport5 reports.
The pyrotechnics reignited exactly the kind of trouble that got Hapoel into hot water with European football's governing body only weeks earlier, and the outlet frames the coming days as a genuine test of whether the club's fans have learned anything from the last warning.
UEFA's disciplinary committee had already fined Hapoel Tel Aviv €40,000 and handed down a conditional ban on selling tickets to travelling supporters for one away European match, suspended for two years, after flares were set off during the second qualifying round tie against Ludogorets Razgrad. The club was separately punished for damage its fans caused to that away stadium.
Because that ban is conditional rather than closed, Sport5 reports that a new finding of guilt over pyrotechnics could see it activated immediately - on top of whatever fresh penalty UEFA's disciplinary body settles on once it reviews the match delegate's report from Bergamo.
Hapoel is not the only Israeli club drawing UEFA's attention to fan behaviour this campaign. Beitar Jerusalem were fined €25,000 and given a suspended one-match stadium closure after flares were lit by their own supporters during a Conference League qualifier against AEK Larnaca, Sport5 has separately reported.
No ruling on Thursday's incident had been announced at the time of writing. UEFA's process typically runs on the match delegate's report, meaning any decision - and confirmation of whether the suspended sentence is triggered - is likely to take days rather than hours.
For now, Hapoel Tel Aviv is left hoping that a night of smoke in the away end at Atalanta does not end up costing its own supporters their access to a future European away leg.
