Pogoń Szczecin football club rejects Maccabi Tel Aviv transfer offer

The owner of Polish football club Pogoń Szczecin has refused to discuss the sale of players to Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv. Alex Haditaghi went further, comparing the idea of doing business with the club to trading with nazi Germany.

In a post on X, Haditaghi said he had told the Israeli club he would not be talking to them about potential transfers for defenders Dmitri Keramitsis and Leo Borges. He said that football should represent “hope, respect, unity and humanity” and that:

money, business, and opportunity must come second to conscience.

Haditaghi made clear that he was referring to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its attacks on Lebanon and Iran — the “violent, genocidal and inhuman actions of the Israeli state”. His full statement reads:

My Official Response to Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C.

Dear Chairman,

Thank you for your interest in doing business with Pogoń Szczecin and for your interest in our players, Léo Borges and Dimitrios Keramitsis.

I have always believed that sport should bring people together. Football should be bigger than politics, bigger than borders, and bigger than division. It should represent hope, respect, unity, and humanity.

However, there are moments in history when silence becomes complicity, and when money, business, and opportunity must come second to conscience.

Considering the ongoing suffering of innocent civilians in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, and across the region, and considering the violent, genocidal and inhuman actions of the Israeli state, I do not believe it would be morally right for our club to proceed with any business transaction with a club representing Israel at this time.

My responsibility as Chairman & Owner is not only to protect the financial interests of our club. It is also to protect the values, principles, and humanity that our club must stand for.

Had I been alive during the times of Nazi Germany, one of the darkest chapters of history, I would not have done business with any sports club representing Nazi Germany, a regime that was responsible for mass murder and crimes against millions of innocent people.

Today, I must apply the same moral standard.

There are moments when ethics must be stronger than profit and money. There are moments when humanity must be more important than business and money. This is one of those moments.

For that reason, with respect, we will not proceed with negotiations at this time.

I hope one day football & sports can again be only about football. But until innocent people are protected, until humanity is respected, and until the world stops accepting the unacceptable, we must stand on the side of conscience.

Sincerely,

Alex Haditaghi
Chairman
Pogoń Szczecin