This edition of the competition is notorious for two debacles, which led to the qualification of Maccabi Haifa to the finals. The first, a set of appeals on the first round tie between Hapoel Petah Tikva and Maccabi Haifa, which delayed the competition for nearly two months until a final decision, which was given through arbitration.
The second was caused by a controversial decision by the EIFA regarding the quarter-final tie between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Arab team Shabab al-Arab from Haifa. The match between the two ended with a Maccabi win of 7–4 (a.e.t.). However, the Haifa club appealed against the result, as Maccabi fielded four ineligible players, due to their age and their applicability to army service. The EIFA decided to confirm the tie's result, but to exclude Maccabi from the rest of the competition, instead of awarding the tie to Shabab al-Arab. The ensuing turmoil among the Arab clubs was among the things that led to the re-establishment of the APSF.
^The match was abandoned at the 80th minute after a Tarsana player, Jamil Bakir refused to leave the field after being sent off [1] and the result stood.
^After the match Hapoel Petah Tikva appealed, claiming the referee had ejected a Maccabi Haifa player during regular time, and then allowed him to return to the match for the extra time. The EIFA ordered the teams to play a third match, scheduled for 25 April 1942. As Maccabi Haifa failed to show to the replay, Hapoel Petah Tikva was given a walkover win. Maccabi Haifa then appealed against both the walkover loss and the decision to play a third match, and through arbitration, their appeals were upheld, and was returned to the competition at the quarter-finals stage.
^Initially, the match was supposed to be held on 11 April 1942, and since Maccabi Haifa was suspended from play, pending Hapoel Petah Tikva's appeal, Royal Hellenic was given a walkover win. After the conclusion of the appeals, the match was rescheduled to 06 June 1942, by which time the Greek team had already left Palestine, and Maccabi Haifa was given a walkover win.