The Israel Football Association's disciplinary court Wednesday handed a fine to Israel's leading Arab premier league football club, for honouring a former Arab legislator who allegedly spied for Hezbollah.
The northern Israeli club, Bnei Sakhnin, has to pay 15,000 shekels (4,000 US dollars) for engaging in politically-tainted activities during a football match, said the court ruling, a copy of which was obtained by dpa.
Bnei Sakhnin was also handed a conditional fine of another 35,000 shekels (9,350 dollars) for the duration of a year.
During Saturday's match against Hapoel Tel Aviv, Bnei Sakhnin honoured benefactors of the club including Azmi Bishara, an Arab legislator who fled Israel in 2007, after the country's Shin Bet internal security organization alleged he passed on sensitive information to the Lebanese Shiite militant organization during the 2006 Lebanon war.
There is "no doubt" that Dr Bishara is a political figure, and a controversial one at that, said judge Israel Shimoni. It is therefore clear that the club violated the IFA regulation against political statements and activities during sport events, he said.
He noted he was not getting into the allegations against Bishara or his fundraising activities.
The award granted to Bishara in absentia sparked outrage among right-wing Israelis.
Qatari donors were also honoured at the club's Doha stadium.
A fine would be insufficient punishment for the "lowly act" by Bnei Sakhnin, Culture and Sport Minister Limor Livnat, of the ruling Likud party, said earlier this week.
"Only expulsion from the league will clarify to the heads of the club ... the gravity of holding a 'ceremony' for Azmi Bishara, suspected of treason and espionage on behalf of Israel's worst enemies," she wrote on her Facebook page.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman too called for the expulsion of Bnei Sakhnin, adding sarcastically that the club should consider playing instead in the Qatari or Palestinian football league.
As part of the ceremony, Sakhnin Mayor Mazen Ghanayem raised a picture of Bishara and dedicated a shield of honour to him. During the match, Sakhnin fans also raised a banner with the words "Jerusalem is ours" under a picture of Jerusalem's Aqsa Mosque.
Bishara currently resides in the Qatari capital, Doha. Qatar has donated millions of US dollars to Bnei Sakhnin.
