1962–63 Liga Leumit

The 1962–63 Liga Leumit season saw Hapoel Petah Tikva crowned champions for the fifth successive season, a record which remains unbeaten. Hapoel's Zecharia Ratzabi was the league's top scorer with 12 goals.

Liga Leumit
Season1962–63
ChampionsHapoel Petah Tikva
6th title
Top goalscorerZecharia Ratzabi (12)

No club was relegated at the end of the season, as the league was expanded to 15 clubs the following season.

Match fixing allegations and Sarig Committee

During the season, several cases of match fixing were rumored to happen, most notably after a match played on 16 March 1963 between Maccabi Jaffa and Maccabi Petah Tikva (in which Maccabi Petah Tikva won 3–1), prior to which an attempt was made to bribe Jaffa goalkeeper Zion Digmi to let Petah Tikva score.[1][2] Following the match, IFA president, Arie Sarig, established a committee, with himself as its chairman, to look into the alleged fixed matches,[3] including poor performances by Maccabi Haifa during the team's matches against Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Petah Tikva, accusations against IFA board member from Hapoel faction, Menachem Heller, that he acted to have the referee for the match between Maccabi Petah Tikva and Hapoel Haifa switched[4] and alleged bribery attempt accusations against Hapoel Haifa player Ziggy Blum in the same match.[5]

The Sarig Committee ruling, given after the end of the season, ruled that the match between Maccabi Jaffa and Maccabi Petah Tikva was fixed and that the match result should be recorded as a 0–0 with no points given. The committee also banned Maccabi Petah Tikva footballer Yeshayahu Alon for life for the attempted bribery and rejected all other complaints filed to it.[6][7] The ruling deducted two points from Maccabi Petah Tikva, and the club dropped to 12th place and faced relegation. The club turned to the civil Tel Aviv District Court, claiming that not only the committee's ruling is wrong, but that Sarig was acting out of his jurisdiction in establishing the committee.[8]

On 14 July 1963, Judge Yosef-Michael Lamm ruled that the Sarig Committee was established without jurisdiction and that its ruling is void.[9] The ruling re-instated Maccabi Petah Tikva's victory over Maccabi Jaffa and elevated the club back to 10th place, relegating Hapoel Haifa to Liga Alef. Following the ruling, the IFA considered its action, eventually choosing not to relegate any team and to play the next season with 15 clubs.[10] In February 1964, the lifetime ban given to Yeshayahu Alon was lifted.[11]

Final table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Hapoel Petah Tikva 22 13 6 3 38 17 +21 32
2 Hapoel Tel Aviv 22 9 9 4 31 16 +15 27
3 Maccabi Jaffa 22 10 4 8 36 27 +9 24
4 Shimshon Tel Aviv 22 9 6 7 32 33 −1 24
5 Bnei Yehuda 22 9 4 9 30 33 −3 22
6 Hapoel Jerusalem 22 9 3 10 21 24 −3 21
7 Maccabi Tel Aviv 22 7 7 8 22 26 −4 21
8 Hapoel Tiberias 22 8 4 10 26 29 −3 20
9 Maccabi Haifa 22 7 5 10 36 41 −5 19
10 Maccabi Petah Tikva 22 7 5 10 22 31 −9 19
11 Hakoah Ramat Gan 22 5 8 9 20 31 −11 18
12 Hapoel Haifa 22 6 5 11 20 26 −6 17
Source: Source

References
  1. Turmoil Erupted in Maccabi Jaffa and its Fans After the Attempt to Bribe 3 Players Davar, 19 March 1963, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  2. Goalkeeper Digmi in Sarig Committee: I Was Offered 1000 IL, If I Would Let in One Goal, Davar, 21 April 1963, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  3. An Ad-hoc Committee Was Established to Look Into Accusations of Conspiracies in Liga Leumit Herut, 24 March 1963, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  4. Maccabi Petah Tikva Tries a Counter-Attack in the Football Affairs H. Asher, 26 March 1963, Davar, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  5. Referee Freed Is "Not Good" for "Hapoel" – And Was Replaced Hanoch Bar-Lavi, 26 March 1963, Herut, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  6. Sarig's Conclusions – Warning to Things to Come Ma'ariv, 2 June 1963, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  7. Maccabi Petah Tikva – To Liga Alef, Found Guilty in Bribe Conspiracy Aharon Lahav, 28 May 1963, Davar, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  8. "Sarig Committee Is Illegal, Without Punishing Authority – And Its Decisions Cannot Hold A. Tabak, 13 June 1963, Ma'ariv, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  9. Judge Lamm Cancelled Sarig Committee Conclusions – Joy in Petah Tikva Meir Nahtomi, 15 July 1963, Ma'ariv, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  10. Sarig Decided: 15 Teams In Liga Leumit, The FA Appeal in The Supreme Court Cancelled Davar, 26 September 1963, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
  11. Alon's Punishment Cancelled Herut, 4 February 1964, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
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