"I do not remember the details of the incident, as I had too much to drink." That's the opening line of Ronny Deila's public apology — and it's not a great look for the man currently in charge of Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Israeli authorities confirmed a foreign national, 50 years old and identified as a senior coach at a top-division club, was questioned following a complaint filed over the weekend. The allegation: that Deila made sexual remarks to a female taxi driver in the early hours of Thursday morning in central Tel Aviv. He was released under restrictive conditions.
The apology doesn't quite land
Deila issued a statement to Israeli outlet N12 that ticks the boxes — sincerity, responsibility, a promise to improve — but also asks a lot of the reader. He can't remember what he said. He acknowledges it may have caused offence. He's sorry either way.
"If my words offended the taxi driver, I apologise to her sincerely and wholeheartedly," he wrote. "This conduct does not meet the standards and values that I set for myself."
The conditional framing of that apology — "if my words offended" — won't go unnoticed.
This is also the second incident to put Deila in the headlines for the wrong reasons since taking the Maccabi job in February. Last month, reports emerged that he'd been thrown out of a Berlin bar in Tel Aviv after allegedly abusing staff. The bar manager later denied the whole thing, saying Deila "was like any normal customer" and that no confrontation occurred. Deila dismissed it as gossip.
What this means for Maccabi Tel Aviv
The Norwegian was brought in to lead one of Israel's biggest clubs through a competitive season, with Rangers and Scotland legend Kenny Miller alongside him on the coaching staff. A harassment investigation — and the headlines that follow — is the last thing a team needs mid-campaign.
Maccabi Tel Aviv's title ambitions just got a complicated sideshow. Whether Deila keeps his job depends largely on how the club, the Israeli football authorities, and the investigation itself develop from here. Two incidents in two months isn't a pattern anyone at the club would want to defend publicly.
Deila won two Scottish Premiership titles and a League Cup during his time at Celtic. Right now, that résumé feels like a long time ago.
