Maccabi Haifa qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage last week, and became the first Middle Eastern team to earn a spot in the competition since the 2015/16 season.
Besides the outstanding achievement and its meanings for Israeli football, professionally and financially, the story attracted attention across the region or, more precisely, attracted no attention whatsoever.
Traditional media in the Middle East have neglected Maccabi Haifa’s achievements for political reasons.
Champions League nights in Haifa, would the fans in the Middle East miss it? (Shaul Greenfeld)
It started before the group stage draw when BeIN, the leading Qatari sports broadcasting network and one of the main ‘players’ in the football media market in the Middle East, did not include Maccabi Haifa's logo in their promotional image for the draw.
Many fans questioned the reason behind it. Assumably, the logo was taken off the promotion as some kind of silent protest regarding the situation between Israel and Palestine.
The #UCL draw in the Iranian TV. For some reason group H has only three teams...🤔 pic.twitter.com/YaTcDJRPgX
— BabaGol (@BabaGol_) August 27, 2022
When it came to the group stage draw itself, Iranian National TV acted as if Group H, Maccabi’s group, contained only three teams - Paris Saint Germain, Juventus and Benfica. Just like that, with explanation as to why they ignored one of this season’s surprise packages.
Suppose that wasn’t enough, the day after the draw, on a programme discussing the season ahead, BeIN referred to Maccabi as a “fourth team” in Group H. A fourth team.
What will Middle Eastern networks do when they need to broadcast Maccabi’s games?
גם היום בשידורי BeIN: ״פאריס סן ז׳רמן, יובה, בנפיקה ועמן - קבוצה רביעית״. אם רק היו יודעים כמה יקרה מכבי חיפה ללבם של כל כך הרבה ערבים… נראה שהם רק רוצים את הטראפיק של @kaisos1987
— Uri Levy (@Levyninho) August 27, 2022
لو عرفوا كم مكابي حيفا في قلوب الكثير من العرب …pic.twitter.com/lhcRQtDwdl
Past cases showcase a variety of ‘creative solutions’ to this matter. When Yossi Benayoun, Israel’s most well-known legionnaire, played for Racing Santander in Spain, he was referred to in some broadcasts as “Sanchez”.
A few years ago, Munas Dabbur played in the Europa League semi-finals for Red Bull Salzburg, and was referred to as “the zionist” by a commentator, causing a outrage amongst the Arab population living in Israel.
One thing is for sure, aside from the football, following the only Middle Eastern team in the UEFA Champions League this season will be very interesting.
Edited by Alex Smith
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