1962–63 Liga Leumit
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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. 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. Following the match,
IFA IFA or Ifa may refer to: Organisations Economics * Independent financial adviser, a type of financial services professional in the UK * Index Fund Advisors * Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, representing actuaries in the UK * Institute of Act ...
president, Arie Sarig, established a committee, with himself as its chairman, to look into the alleged fixed matches, including poor performances by
Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa () is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football, Basketball, Weightl ...
during the team's matches against
Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...
and Maccabi Petah Tikva, accusations against IFA board member from
Hapoel Hapoel (, ) is an Israeli Jewish sports association established in 1926 by the Histadrut Labor Federation. History During the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Palestine period Hapoel had a bitter rivalry with Maccabi World Union, Maccab ...
faction, Menachem Heller, that he acted to have the referee for the match between Maccabi Petah Tikva and
Hapoel Haifa Hapoel Haifa Football Club (, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Haifa'') is an Israeli professional football club located in the city of Haifa. The club won one championship (1998–99) and 4 Israeli cups (1962–63, 1965–66 and 1973–74, 2 ...
switched and alleged bribery attempt accusations against Hapoel Haifa player Ziggy Blum in the same match. 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. 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. On 14 July 1963, Judge Yosef-Michael Lamm ruled that the Sarig Committee was established without jurisdiction and that its ruling is void. 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 Liga Alef () is the third tier of the Israeli football league system. It is divided into two regional divisions, north and south. History League football began in Israel in 1949–50, a year after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. Howe ...
. Following the ruling, the IFA considered its action, eventually choosing not to relegate any team and to play the next season with 15 clubs. In February 1964, the lifetime ban given to Yeshayahu Alon was lifted.Alon's Punishment Cancelled
Herut, 4 February 1964, Historical Jewish Press


Final table


Results


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1962-63 Liga Leumit Liga Leumit seasons
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
1962–63 in Israeli football leagues