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Mission Impossible | Israel today

2020-05-03T10:44:27.125Z


Israeli basketball


Unlike the Premier League, which could return to activity if it were not for medical reasons, basketball has great pessimism about the resumption of the season. • The main reason: Only 4 foreigners remain and 10 citizens left so half the league players are not here • Senior official: "The foreigners will not return, this is not dear"

  • Jeff Whitey (with the ball) in front of Brimo

    Photo: 

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Had it not been for medical reasons, the Premier League football could have opened next Saturday or at least after some training, but in the senior basketball league the picture is quite different. While in football, almost 100 percent of foreigners remain in the country, in basketball the vast majority is not here, which is before we talked about citizens and coaches. That's why the pessimism about the return of the 19/20 season is so great.

Assuming the medical restrictions are removed, the biggest obstacle the groups will face is the return of foreigners to Israel. There were 61 players here when the league was discontinued, and only six remained in the country after the corona eruption. In eight of the 12 groups, not even one foreigner remains. Only three others have one stranger.

Ten percent of the foreigners remain here, but if the activity is resumed, two of them are not even registered to the league, so the number is only four. Ten of the foreigners who left should add ten nationals returning to their homes, so that in fact half the Premier League players are not here.

Those foreigners left: Othello Hunter, Angelo Cloyaro and Sandy Cohen (last two unlisted for the league) from Tel Aviv, SC Henry from Hapoel Tel Aviv who came very close to the league stop, Jeff Whitey from Ness Ziona Towns and Tony Gaffney (term) Fourth in Israel) from the towns of Nahariya.

Tony Gaffney (left) // Photo: Oded Karni 

A third of the league's coaches are missing

Scotty Wilbkin, Eliza Bryant (Maccabi Tel Aviv) and Emanuel Terry (Hapoel Jerusalem) also stayed in the country initially, but as a result of the US closure, they decided to return. While the Tel Aviv yellows have the most foreigners, they also left the most (8) including Arkon Jackson who does not stop tweeting on Twitter against the renewal of the Euroleague season. On the other hand, all Maccabi nationals remained in the country, as did coach Janis Sparopoulos.

But the lack of players is not the only hardship. Apart from Sparopoulos who chose to stay, the four other foreign coaches in the league left - Stefanos Dadas (Hapoel Holon), Daniel Sauvana (Maccabi Haifa), Brad Greenberg (Ashdod) and Janis Castritis (Hapoel Tel Aviv). Most of the players are not here, but if you ask "The strangers on the suitcases are ready to read," says Danny Franco, Nahariya municipal coach. Eilat coach Eric Alfasi paints a similar picture: "If they renew the league, all the foreigners Will be happy to come back. "

"The situation is very complicated"

However, it is clear to everyone that the return of everyone, or at least most of them, is a complicated and unusable logistical operation. Apart from the great difficulty of returning to Israel because of aviation restrictions, even those who succeed will be obliged to have a two-week isolation.

"I am in touch with other groups and know the situation well. That will not happen. Foreigners will not return, at least most of them," a senior league official claims. "Yes, there are contracts, but this is people's health. I don't really see them here. Leaving families in such a situation. Beyond that, there is a problem with flights. When they arrive, they will be charged with isolation. Everything is very complicated, so I am very pessimistic. "

But that is not the end. Beyond that, there are contractual and insurance difficulties. Some teams have already reached contract termination agreements with foreign players, and even if it is not official, they have practically ended their way with the team. Another problem is that most of the existing contracts expire in June, and if we do return to activity, the season should go deep into July.

Source: israelhayom

All sports articles on 2020-05-03

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