Following N12 exposé | Ronny Deila takes leave from coaching Maccabi Tel Aviv

By Ben Goldfriend

Ronny Deila, the 50-year-old Norwegian, is the senior coach who allegedly sexually harassed a female taxi driver on Thursday night in Tel Aviv. As first reported on N12, the coach did so upon arriving at his destination after a night out, during which he got drunk - and not for the first time.

Deila published a statement in which he said: "An incident occurred in the early hours of Thursday morning, during my trip home in a taxi. I do not remember the details of the incident, as I had too much to drink and therefore chose to take a taxi. If my words offended the taxi driver, I apologise to her sincerely and wholeheartedly for that. I would also like to apologise to all the club members and to our wonderful fans. This conduct does not meet the standards and values that I set for myself. I take responsibility for the situation and undertake to learn from it, improve and handle these matters in a professional and appropriate manner. Again, I sincerely apologize".

Ronny Deila, the 50-year-old Norwegian, joined Maccabi Tel Aviv last January, following the dismissal of Žarko Lazetić from the club. In 12 matches with the club he lost only twice and brought the team back into the title race, but yesterday was beaten 4:2 by Beitar Jerusalem, in what appeared to mark the end of the title challenge. In the past month his name was linked to another incident, when he got drunk at a café and pub in Tel Aviv, where according to testimonies he became disorderly and was asked to leave.

Deila was summoned for questioning after a woman filed a complaint of sexual harassment against him. The woman complained that he harassed her on Thursday - and police officers arrived to take her statement. The woman is a taxi driver who picked the coach up from the venue where he had been out and drove him home - and the harassment allegedly occurred when they arrived at the destination. According to the suspicion, he said to her: "Do you like f**king? What kind of f**king do you like?" He also allegedly refused to pay for the ride, and she shouted to passersby, who called the police.

During questioning, the coach said: "I'm ashamed to be sitting here, but I'm also ashamed that I don't remember anything from this incident. If I said something bad to the woman, I am very sorry. I simply don't remember. I drank a lot". At the conclusion of his questioning he was released under restrictive conditions.

Deila is "taking an immediate time-out" from coaching Maccabi Tel Aviv. The dismissal announcement is the club's first official response to the incident. "Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club and head coach Ronny Deila have reached a mutual agreement that he will take a time-out from his role effective immediately for personal reasons. Kenny Miller will be appointed as temporary head coach", Maccabi Tel Aviv announced.

This is, in effect, the first official response from Maccabi Tel Aviv to the affair first exposed on N12, more than 24 hours after it was revealed and without any real reference to the "personal reasons" that forced the coach to stop working. On the other hand, he was not fired, and the club is not taking responsibility for the coach's actions.