City hall strikes out Maccabiah softball game in licensing spat

The Petah Tikva municipality yesterday aborted an ongoing Maccabiah softball game, saying the operators of the field did not have proper licensing. The surprising move leaves athletes and officials wondering about the future of the tournament, as the municipality said no games would be allowed at the site before its operators acquire a valid business license, which seems unlikely in light of the complicated licensing procedures.

Outraged officials said the field has been used for over 10 years - including for two previous Maccabiahs and Israel Baseball League games - without the required license, and the municipality notified the venue's operators too late to obtain it. "The operators of the field didn't fulfill the requirements that the municipality and the police placed on them. Due to our responsibility toward the players we decided to stop the game," municipality spokesman Hezi Hakak told Haaretz.

He added that Maccabiah officials and the field's operators knew about the problem. "We sent a letter on May 25, but they haven't done anything about it. As painful as it might be, we can't allow games to take place on a field without business license. If tomorrow somebody falls and gets hurt, God forbid, the municipality would be held responsible."

All the Maccabiah softball games were scheduled to take place at Petah Tikva's Yarkon Sports Center field, which is also known as the Baptist Village field as it is located in a village owned by a Baptist community. "We were the venue for the last two Maccabiahs in 2001 and 2005, when everything went well and there were no problems," said Jeff Chestnut, whom the Baptists hired as a consultant to operate the field. "This year, we went through the same process and a guy at the municipality gave us a permit in writing. But then his boss came by and said there are buildings on the property. We said there are no buildings on the property. It's just an open field, so we shouldn't need a permit required for a stadium."

The Baptist Village's buildings are separated from the baseball and softball fields, explained Ami Baran, the executive director of the Israel Softball Association, who was playing in yesterday's canceled match against Mexico. He added that the municipality's sudden request of a business license is "absurd," as other similar venues usually do not require more than the permits the Baptist Village operators posses.

"This is not a hall, which would be a different thing," Baran said. "A building can fall down on people. Here, you have all the permits and fewer than 200 people, which means that you do not need the police's permission. Why do they care about the business license? So the Baptist Village will take care of it, and they'll pay all the taxes, but to stop the Maccabiah because of this? And why did they wait until May to tell them? Now you have 400 players and their families sitting in their hotel rooms not knowing what to do. It's really absurd. For years nobody said anything - the mayor of Petah Tikva himself was on the field not too long ago, throwing the first pitch of the Israel Baseball League season."

Chestnut and Baran denied the spokesman's claim that the municipality's letter went unnoticed. They said the owners of the field and Maccabiah officials went several times to the municipality to initiate the licensing process, but the protracted procedure could not be finalized in time for the Games. Chestnut, who used to own the company leasing the fields, said he attended at least two such meetings. Baran said the policeman who appeared at the field yesterday said he remembered seeing the group applying for a business license.

Yesterday's game was aborted at the bottom of the first inning, with Israel leading 2-0. "At the second batter, the president of the Israel Softball Association walked down the field and told us he had been notified by the Maccabiah that we have to stop the game because the police and a municipal inspector are on their way with an order to cancel the game," Baran said, adding that the players on the field showed little understanding for the city's position. "Three Mexican players asked me if it's true that they're causing this many problems for a softball field. With this kind of bureaucracy, they said, it's a good thing we live in Mexico."