Thirst for attention: Iranian owner in antisemitic attack against Hapoel Tel Aviv

Antisemitism in Europe is breaking new records, this time on the football pitch. Alex Heditagi, an Iranian-Canadian businessman and owner of the Pogoń Szczecin club from the Polish top league, published an unbridled incitement monologue on the social network X ahead of Hapoel Tel Aviv's match against Katowice this evening (Wednesday, 19:00) in the second leg of the Conference League second qualifying round. The Iranian, who took over the Polish club in March 2025, used the sports platform to launch severe hate speech against the State of Israel and the red club.

"Tonight Katowice meets Hapoel Tel Aviv, a club that represents the evil Zionist system," Heditagi wrote in the outrageous post. "A country that should not be given the right to enjoy privilege and legitimacy in UEFA competitions while it commits genocide and land theft." Heditagi continued the wild incitement as he urged the Polish players: "Take the anger and pain of the millions to the pitch. Make the stadium shake. Let every tackle, sprint and goal be a statement. Free Palestine, long live Iran."

History of incitement

This is not the first time that Heditagi has used his position to harm Israeli sports. As we reported in June, the Iranian caused a storm when he flatly refused to conduct negotiations with Maccabi Tel Aviv, which submitted official offers for defenders Dimitrios Keramitsis and Leo Borges. Heditagi did not settle for rejecting the offers, but went further and compared doing business with an Israeli club to cooperating with the Nazi German regime.

Will the red answer come on the pitch?

Heditagi's wild incitement comes at a time when Hapoel Tel Aviv arrives at the meeting in Poland in excellent professional condition, after winning 2:0 in the first match in Hungary thanks to goals by Omri Altman and Chico. The team of Elyaniv Barda, which holds a promising lead on the way to the meeting against the Italian Atalanta in the playoffs, will try to provide the best Zionist and sports answer on the pitch, and prove again that no wave of incitement from Iran will stop Israeli football.