Last summer, Jeff Rosen left Maccabi Haifa after 14 years in which he served as the club's owner because he claimed that the Haifa municipality did not financially support the club and did not help it.
For several months, he and his nephew Matthew had contacts with several clubs, and eventually decided to join Maccabi Ashdod.
"It's good to be back in Israel after a long time I have not been," he tells Israel Today in an exclusive interview we held in the home hall of Ashdod.
"I did not want to be in isolation and that was the main reason I did not come here. I have all the vaccines, but according to Israeli law I had to be in isolation so as not to spread the virus, so now that the government calmed down about tourists I arrived, it was frustrating but as soon as possible I arrived immediately ".
You talked to a few other clubs in the summer, why did you end up choosing to join Maccabi Ashdod?
"Good question, I did talk to Raanana, Ramat Gan and Galil, there was interest from first and second league teams as well, but the opportunity in Ashdod was the best because the city invests in the team and is significant in the team's performance. I want to develop basketball in the city. The sunset and the main thing was from me. We knew that if the city invested the responsibility would be combined so Ashdod is a very good option. Ofer Rahimi encouraged me to come and recommended the city and the team and I knew he would also be the coach so it's a serious plus. It was important and contributed to the move. "
What exactly is your role and how much do you invest in the club each year as part of the agreement?
"I will not say how much I will invest, but it is less than Haifa. I am the group's CEO and not the owner, I am responsible for the relationship with the sponsors and the media and want to improve the group professionally.
Of course we want to create a competitive team on the field and a team that attracts fans and is connected to the city. "
Maccabi Haifa wins the championship in 2013, Photo: Alan Shiber
How long do you plan to stay at the club?
"I was in Haifa for 14 years and it would be wonderful to stay in Ashdod for 14 years as well. This is my 15th year in Israel and it still excites me and I enjoy it. As long as I can contribute to the city and the team I have reason to stay. If I do not think I donate I will not stay It is to stay a long time and succeed with the club. "
"The unhappy people are the ones who wanted to stay"
Since joining Maccabi Haifa as owner in the summer of 2007, Rosen has led the club from Carmel to great successes such as winning a historic championship, participating in European tournaments, fully qualifying for a trophy and also bringing in quality players like Donta Smith, Gregory Vargas and others.
Alongside this, there were complaints from fans and professionals about his management style and behavior towards some of the employees.
He now answers all the questions.
"Haifa is a wonderful place supported by real fans," he opens.
"Haifa taught me about Israel and Israeli basketball. I helped the team, won the championship, reached four finals and was almost always in the playoffs. The trip to Haifa was special for me. I have positive feelings for the city, but I sought more support, and the authorities did not care if I stayed or "It did not interest them, so I left to find something new. But for a moment I did not think of leaving Israel."
The lack of support from the municipality is the only reason you left?
"After 14 years I expected to get feedback from the municipality, I did not even hear from them happy Hanukkah. Most cities in Israel help basketball more than Haifa. I felt it was not fair not to accept what I define as appropriate support, as I give the team. We tried to reach an agreement and Ilan Beck "Agudat Maccabi Haifa, YM) worked hard and tried to connect, but I felt it was nothing. When I compared the deal with Ashdod to what was in Haifa, Ashdod was better. I call on the municipality to help more all the teams in the city, it will promote sports."
Maccabi Haifa fans, Photo: Yossi Shekel
You brought to Israel a lot of good players from unfamiliar markets like South America. What is the strategy by which you and your team select players?
"When we arrived in Haifa we saw that there are not many players from South America in Israel, so we realized that if we go shopping there we will get good opportunities. Everyone goes to Europe and pays a lot of money for good players. In South America we paid less and brought good players.
"In the end we used agents like everyone else. We have a small team that works on players and we did our best, we were in touch with Israeli coaches and did homework. There is no special technique. Sometimes we did a good job and sometimes not. We used statistics and videos, we used as many technological means as possible. "We have to make a decision. Sometimes we made a good decision and sometimes we didn't."
Rosen with Matthew, his nephew and right-hand man, Photo: Harel Schwarzberg
Professionally you did beautiful things, but do you think that organizationally and all around the field you also conducted yourself well or that you could have done things differently?
"You can always do more and bring in more fans and sponsors. I think it was hard in the city to build a bigger fan base and recruit sponsors. We had managers who made plans, but it's hard to change the status quo. If the city contributed a little more I believe it would work well too."
The fans claimed that you did not invest in a relationship with them.
"I do not know how to answer that, depending on what fans you ask. There are a lot of fans who connected with players and coaches and we had a lot of those. All we tried was to build a winning team every year. Most of the time we succeeded. Fans have a right to visit and we have to work hard To bring results. "
During your years at Maccabi Haifa, people left the club with bad feelings and anger. Maybe you could have behaved differently in some cases?
"It happens in every business. Every company has happy and less employees. Both in the government and in the army. Am I unique? Some people got along and some did not. I think we were normal and behaved normally. Many people said that Maccabi Haifa was the most professional organization they worked with in Israel. , I did not say that. This is what I was told. I am proud that we built an organization that pays on time and people in Europe and America wanted to come to Haifa and there is a mentality and quality of basketball. We did not reach the status of Maccabi Tel Aviv but we were definitely confused. But the majority must have been satisfied. "
"Let's say we had 100 people - 95 happy and 5 not. We can not make everyone happy. There is no organization in the world that can and Maccabi Haifa is no different. Some of the unhappy people are the ones who wanted to stay and were just sad that they did not continue."
There are rumors that you left Maccabi Haifa in a bad way, that you took away the championship plate and other equipment. Can you explain what exactly happened?
"What things did I take? That's not what happened. It's really not true."
"I have the opportunity to be a Zionist in Israel"
Rosen says that even after the move, he is very motivated to invest in Israeli sports and lead Ashdod back to the main stage.
"I have the opportunity to be a Zionist in Israel and do something I love very much which is to be involved in basketball. I am also involved for many years in Israeli baseball and want to invest more in this brand. I saw in my 14 years here Israeli basketball progresses I'm very proud to tell my friends in the US about it.
Dontae Smith, Photo: Oded Karni
Finally, what are your plans with Maccabi Ashdod for the coming years?
"Ashdod wants to return to the first league and it is a process that will take time. We did it twice in Haifa and we know what needs to be done. I do not know if it will happen this year or next year. We started the summer a little late, but I think we have a good team. "Then we'll see what happens. We are building a new program and we are also open to cooperation as it was between Maccabi Haifa and Miami Midnights. There is still a lot of work to do at the club."
