… a) Chillul Shabbos. In EY the sports players are all Jewish, representing a Jewish state and the chillul Shabbos is rampant and very problematic, and b) the way sports – soccer, really – were used by the leftist founders of the state of Israel – as a way to pull frum boys away from Yiddishkeit. They would purposely send groups of irreligious boys to play soccer in Meah Shearim, Battei Ungarin, etc., and to invite boys to join. The point was to influence the frum boys and tear them away from Torah.
So frum Israelis, especially Yerushalmim, have a very visceral, emotional past with organized sports.
Overheard.