The preparatory tournaments of Maccabi Tel Aviv in Greece and Cyprus may be canceled due to the spread of the corona virus and the guidelines of the Ministry of Health, Israel Today has learned.
As you may recall, the Yellows have set up quality tournaments in Piraeus and Nicosia with the participation of strong Euroleague teams such as Olympiacos, CSKA Moscow, Zenit St. Petersburg and others during the month of September to arrive physically and professionally ready for the upcoming season.
Recently, due to the spread of the Corona virus and the Ministry of Health's strict new guidelines regarding the obligation to isolate returnees from abroad and other prohibitions, the Yellows checked for a travel permit and realized that they currently do not have a permit to leave. At the moment the chances do not seem high.
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The team claims to the relevant parties that this is a trip to away games as of all Israeli sports teams representing Israel in various industries - Maccabi Haifa, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Beer Sheva in football, Hapoel Eilat which should also travel during the month of September to the Champions League qualifiers and more.
This is a significant move that could significantly affect the team's season opener and disrupt professional plans.
These are also tournaments that have been pre-determined by the Euroleague, and now the cancellation of Maccabi Tel Aviv's participation could lead to unplanned financial losses.
Maccabi Tel Aviv stated in response to Israel Today's request: "As of this moment and following the guidelines of the Ministry of Health, Maccabi Tel Aviv does not have permission to go to preparatory tournaments in Greece and Cyprus, tournaments that are pre-arranged and a commitment has been made to participate.
"These are official tournaments approved by the Euroleague and from that we asked the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Sports to treat them as such, similar to the official games that take place in the European leagues and to find a solution that will allow participation in the games.
We are waiting for the offices' response to our request and thank them on this occasion for listening. "