When the administration agreed with the Ministry of Finance on an economic safety net for teams, it did not expect it to be so complicated • The small clubs, those whose owners invest several times what they earn from the crowd, will not really benefit from the assistance • In the meantime, it does not bother some to sign players

• Yoav Katz. "Investing more than the owners of Hapoel Tel Aviv"

  Photo: 

  Maor Alexelsi

• Sami Ofer Stadium. The compensation is for the loss of revenue from the audience

  Photo: 

  Alan Shiver

Last week, Hapoel Haifa owner Yoav Katz held a conversation with the heads of the leagues administration, in which he lamented the way in which the funds of the economic safety net provided by the Ministry of Finance to Israeli football would be distributed. "I invest more than the owners of Hapoel Tel Aviv, for example, but they will get a lot more from me because their audience income is higher than mine," said Katz, who manages the corona crisis in the US with his private business.

Katz brings in NIS 6-5 million a year from the Hapoel Haifa crowd, and will receive an amount of almost NIS 2 million from the aid money. Hapoel Tel Aviv, on the other hand, will receive more than NIS 10 million, although its budget is higher than Haifa's, as is its revenue from the crowd. Every month, Katz invests about $ 200,000 out of his own pocket. About 14 million shekels a year for KS, whose income from an audience is closer to zero than to its investment. A few weeks ago, Shretzky threatened that his team would go up with the youth in the 2020/21 season, but since signing five players. Although it is not clear how this will happen.

For years the league administration did not want to receive money from the state. This fact is important, as it approached the Ministry of Finance after the state announced that it would assist industries affected by the corona crisis. Equally important - the request, all the way through, was a refund for loss of revenue due to non-ticket sales and subscriptions, which is the highest revenue channel for most teams in the Premier League.

The decision made by the Ministries of Finance and Sports is that the compensation will be solely based on the loss of ticket money and appointments. Other industries, such as the Handball Association, demanded monetary compensation on the grounds "Why did football get and we did not?". The answer was that they would show a loss of income from not selling tickets and subscriptions and thus receive compensation, which of course is not relevant to those industries.

There is always someone falling between the chairs

"It should be understood that the Treasury made this decision after it went down with us in great detail, down to the last shekel," the administration says, "We did not reach this agreement because some owners invest a lot of money in groups. If that was the claim, they would not talk to us at all. "And appointments, that's all. It's like asking UEFA: 'Give us more budget because we are being fired on by missiles or because we have good football,' but UEFA only pays according to its grants and calculations."

"Israel Today" has learned that apparently, the one who will eventually distribute the funds to teams each month is the Ministry of Sports and not the leagues administration, as originally planned. This will make it even more difficult for owners who invest out of pocket and do not bring in a lot of money from an audience. The calculations themselves have not yet been finalized, and have many implications.

There is another thing to consider, and the owners of small groups know this well. As part of the negotiations with the Ministry of Finance, the administration asked for NIS 20 million in retroactive compensation for losses incurred by groups last season, but then the Ministry of Finance discovered that some groups, mainly from Leumit, applied to the tax authority for grants. Compensation was dropped.

The administration has informed all the groups that they can demand additional monetary compensation in this framework, through the tax authority, for various losses like departure of sponsors, cessation of municipal support and more. In this format, the groups may or may not receive greater retroactive compensation, but the bottom line is that the agreement ultimately serves most groups, especially those whose expenses - such as policing or wages - have been significantly reduced.

Like anything in life, there is always someone who falls between the chairs. Katz and Sheretzky are the ones who claim to have been injured this time, but that does not stop them, even during this period, from continuing to sign players.