Beitar Jerusalem clenched the premiership title yesterday after decisively beating second in the league Maccabi Netanya 3-0.
Beitar joined only three other teams - Maccabi Haifa, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Tel Aviv - which have won the both the league title and the State Cup in the same season.
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Its players and supporters celebrated after the match, but the festivities were slightly marred by the limited number of fans allowed to watch the match due to disciplinary measures against the Jerusalem team.
Meanwhile, Beitar's owner, billionaire Arkadi Gaydamak, announced that official celebrations will be held on Thursday. "I am proud of the team and forgive its supporters," Gaydamak said.
Beitar's Aviram Baruchyan scored the first goal for the local team in a penalty kick in the 34th minute. The penalty was awarded to his team after Netanya defender Dedi Ben Dayan deflected a pass by Baruchyan with his hand inside the penalty area. Baruchyan himself stepped up and put the ball past the Netanya goalie, 1-0 to Beitar. Michael Zandberg added a second goal in the 58th minute. Toto Tamuz shot a ball on goal that was deflected twice, ending up with Zandbrg, who sent the ball past the goal line.
Only four minutes later Tamuz added the third goal, sealing the fate of the match by sending a smashing shot between the legs of Maccabi Netanya goalkeeper Liran Strauber.
"It's an incredible feeling, I'm the happiest person in the world," Zandberg said after the match. "It's been a dream week and we've proven what were worthy."
Coach Itzhak Shum added: "It's a dream come true for me. We came a long way to take this championship.
Players fight with fan
A fight between Beitar Jerusalem players and supporters occurred on Friday at the club's training ground.
A supporter, who was irate because club players did not take part in public celebrations of its State Cup triumph at Jerusalem's Safra Square last week, started a spat with Beitar's Aviram Baruchyan. Teammates Idan Tal, Derek Boateng and Yoav Ziv also reprimanded the supporter, who was shouting obscenities at them, causing coach Shum to gather his players for a huddle.
"Don't lose your concentration," Shum told his players. Midfielder Ida Tal added, "Come on, let's win this championship for ourselves."
Despite the incident, some Beitar supporters yesterday submitted written apologies for their behavior following the State Cup triumph.
Charleroi accuses Beitar
Meanwhile, soccer club Charleroi threatened to sue Beitar Jerusalem yesterday, claiming it was unlawfully encouraging the Belgian team's player Jospeh Akpala to breach his contract. Charleroi officials said the alleged act was undertaken by Beitar to reduce the player's selling price, which currently stands at 3 million euros.
"This is a criminal act," Abbas Bayat, the club's chairman, told Haaretz. "This is a waste of time anyway - Akpala will never play for Beitar. That team has a lot to learn about decency."
Beitar spokesman Oded Zargeri said in response that his club was not afraid to ask UEFA to intervene and that in any case, Charlerio's demands were absurd.
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