A rally by fans and players against professional soccer matches being played on the Sabbath is scheduled for Wednesday at 17:00 under the administrative offices of the football leagues the BSR Tower 2 business center in Ramat Gan.
A statement from organizers said, "We are football players and fans who keep and honor the Sabbath. We have united from all the sectors in an unprecedented way. We come from all over the country to prevent the continued exclusion of us and our children from football both as players and fans." Noting "just as the Sabbath does not belong only to the 'religious', so football does not belong only to the 'secular'," they concluded, "Football is a public product and it is unthinkable that a large part of the public is excluded in the State of Israel because it maintains the Israeli tradition."