Maccabi Ahi Nazareth F.C.

Maccabi Ahi Nazareth has competed in Israel's top three football divisions, including two periods in the Premier League.[3][4] It reached its first State Cup semifinal in 2015 and returned to the National League in 2026 after the preceding lower-league season was ended early.[6][1]

In June 2003, Maccabi Ahi Nazareth and Bnei Sakhnin were promoted together to Israel's Premier League, an achievement described as historic and a source of considerable pride for Arab residents of Nazareth.[8] The club operated with a substantially smaller budget than neighboring Nazareth Illit yet, by one account, had bested it across every sporting measure.[8] Its coach at the time was an Israeli Arab Christian who had previously coached the Palestine national team before the outbreak of the intifada.[8]

Ahi Nazareth's first Premier League spell produced a memorable result on 1 November 2003, when the club came from behind to defeat Beitar Jerusalem 2–1. Gustavo Boccoli equalized in the 40th minute, and Alon Mizrahi scored the winner in the 67th.[9] That match was also marred by racist chants directed at Nazareth's Arab players by Beitar supporters.[9] The first Premier League stay lasted only one season. A 3–1 loss to Maccabi Haifa confirmed relegation to the National League; Nazareth had equalized temporarily before conceding twice in the final ten minutes.[3] Coach Shiye Feigenbaum argued that a three-point deduction had contributed to the relegation and that without it the club might have stayed up.[3]

The club returned to the Premier League for the 2009/10 season. ONE reported that its 1–1 draw with Kiryat Ata simultaneously secured promotion for Hapoel Be'er Sheva and Hapoel Acre.[10] A 2009 season preview said Ahi itself had earned promotion by defeating Hakoach Amidar Ramat Gan in a playoff after finishing sixth in the National League with 12 wins, nine draws, 12 losses and 45 points. Eli Mahpud was the coach.[11]

In the Premier League that season the club struggled. During September 2009, a late winning goal from Tcham N'Toya against Hapoel Acre briefly lifted the club off the foot of the table.[12] Mahpud later gave way to John Gregory, who guided the team to a notable 1–0 away win over Maccabi Tel Aviv in April 2010, with Yaniv Luzon scoring after a return pass from Tomer Hemed.[13] The squad also included young Ahmed Abed.[4] Goalkeeper Joslain Mayebi scored during open play in 2010, a rare occurrence that The Jerusalem Post later cited as the most recent example of its kind before a goalkeeper goal in 2018.[14]

Despite these highlights, Ahi Nazareth finished last in the Premier League, earning 21 points across 27 matches while scoring 26 goals and conceding 57.[4] A May 2010 report described the club as set to return to the National League for the following season.[15]

In April 2023, the Football Association's tribunal deducted four points from Ahi Nazareth and fined it NIS 20,000 after finding that the club had failed to comply with an order to pay player wages within 15 days. The case concerned a two-month period of unpaid wages.[16] The club appealed, arguing among other grounds that the punishment risked causing relegation on non-sporting grounds; Sport5 reported that the appeal hearing was postponed.[16]

The deduction immediately dropped Ahi Nazareth below the relegation line. On 12 May 2023, a 1–1 draw with Kafr Qasim left the club relegated from the National League to Liga Alef, described as a return to the third tier after 13 years and the end of a spell during which it had been the oldest side in the National League.[17] Chairman Maher Ahmad disputed characterizations of the wage situation, stating that salaries had been paid late and that the March wages had been settled.[17]

A July 2023 report estimated the club's debts at approximately NIS 3 million and said its management had announced that a court-approved dissolution petition had been granted, with lawyer Nadav Maiost appointed as trustee.[5] The senior team was set to begin its Liga Alef campaign with a 12-point deduction.[5] Notwithstanding the financial turmoil, the report recognized Ahi Nazareth's standing as a prominent club in Arab Israeli football, noting that Najwan Ghrayib and Mu'nas Dabbur were among the players who had developed at the club before representing the Israeli national team.[5]

A June 2025 report stated that the association managing Ahi Nazareth had been founded in 2025 and had not yet obtained a certificate of proper management for that year. The matter formed part of the documentation required as clubs sought approval to begin the 2025/26 season.[18]

Ahi Nazareth's most prominent cup achievement came in 2015, when the club, then playing in the National League, reached the State Cup semifinals for the first time in its history.[6] Along the way it eliminated two Premier League clubs: Maccabi Netanya in the round of 32 and Ashdod SC in the last 16.[6] Player Anas Dabbur captured the mood ahead of the semifinal: "We are feeling a bit of pressure as this is our first time in the semis, but I hope we can reach the final."[6]

In December 2021, the club advanced in the State Cup again, defeating Hapoel Acre 2–1 after extra time, with Wael Salam scoring the winning goal in the 102nd minute.[19] By contrast, the December 2025 edition exposed a significant gulf in quality: as a Liga Alef side, Ahi Nazareth lost 8–1 to Maccabi Haifa in the round of 32. Silva Kani scored in the opening minute, Dolev Haziza and Guy Melamed each netted twice, and two own goals contributed to the final score.[20]

Ahi Nazareth's time in Liga Alef ended after the 2025/26 lower-league season was terminated early amid the war. ONE reported that a Football Association committee, following a review of the security situation, recommended ending the season without completing its fixtures. The resulting arrangement provided for one promoted club from each league under the regulations and no relegations.[1] Ahi Nazareth was among the clubs elevated, returning to the National League for the 2026/27 campaign.[1]

In the table captured on October 16, 2026, before the day's scheduled round-10 fixture, Ahi Nazareth was 10th after nine matches, with three wins, one draw, five defeats and 10 points.[2]

The club's 2015 State Cup semifinal against Maccabi Tel Aviv at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem generated substantial controversy. Walla Sport reported that Ahi Nazareth planned a pre-match ceremony at a Jerusalem hotel to honor Azmi Bishara and the Emir of Qatar, with Qatar having financially supported the club that season.[7] A club source was quoted: "Qatar has a major part in our reaching the semifinals, and we found it appropriate to honor it at the hotel before the match."[7]

The club's spokesperson, Omar Zoabi, said two kits had been prepared, including one bearing a Qatar inscription, and that approval had been sought from the Football Association to wear it. The Football Association disputed this, stating that no request had been submitted and that it would not have approved the shirts in any case.[7] An unnamed Jewish player at the club said the proposed Qatar wording was uncomfortable for the Jewish players, though they expected to play in the match and intended to avoid attending the ceremony.[7]

The club also objected to the semifinal's scheduling and late start at Teddy Stadium rather than Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa. It estimated that roughly 10,000 supporters might have traveled to Haifa, compared with an optimistic 4,000 able to reach Jerusalem.[7] Although the report otherwise described the ceremony as planned, then-foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman referred to it as having taken place, condemned it and called for the club to be disqualified from the semifinal.[7]

The club's earlier Premier League promotion in 2003 also drew politically charged coverage. Globes framed the achievement in terms of Arab Israeli identity and coexistence, describing sport as a bridge between communities even amid tensions around national symbols at matches.[8] These characterizations reflect the editorial framing of that coverage rather than independent determinations.

The 2023 wage dispute involved conflicting accounts: the tribunal found that the club had failed to comply with an order concerning unpaid wages, while chairman Ahmad maintained that payments had merely been delayed.[16][17] Sources also gave inconsistent figures for the club's absence from the third division—one report cited 13 years, while another said "almost two and a half decades"—without resolving the discrepancy.[17][5]