The general manager of Maccabi Tel Aviv accused Baali Hapoel B'Shlosha of a secret meeting regarding broadcasting rights: Everything for the benefit of Israeli football "
Alona Barkat.
"Doing everything for the benefit of football"
A sharp confrontation developed today (Wednesday) in the board of directors regarding the sale of the broadcasting rights.
The confrontation took place between Sharon Tamam, CEO of Maccabi Tel Aviv, and Barak Abramov, owner of Bnei Yehuda, and Alona Barkat, owner of Hapoel Beer Sheva.
Tamm blamed Barkat for Maccabi Tel Aviv, Bnei Yehuda, and Maccabi Netanya being excluded from a secret meeting held at their home, which was attended by representatives of 11 other teams and talked to Eli Azour, the owner of the Charlton company, about broadcasting rights The negotiations with any communication body and did not give them the mandate to conduct on behalf of the director of negotiations.
"We would like to express our reservations about a secret meeting at the private home of one of the team owners on February 26, to which only 11 of the 14 clubs in the Premier League were invited and from which Bnei Yehuda, Maccabi Netanya and Maccabi Tel Aviv were excluded - as well as representatives from the administration and the National League." She said in an innocent discussion, "The meeting was held to create a partnership for the sale of broadcasting rights - the main and most significant source of income for the Premier League and National League clubs."
Tamem added: "Worse, we understand that during that meeting, a direct phone call was made to Eli Azour from 'Charlton' to discuss the financial arrangements for the sale of the broadcasting rights. We also learned that at the secret meeting, the representatives of the groups were asked to sign a letter to the chairman. "In addition to the clear lack of good faith in the deliberate exclusion of Maccabi Tel Aviv and two other clubs in the Premier League, the motives behind these actions raise many questions and doubts." The head of the administration expresses their agreement to hand over the negotiations for the sale of the broadcasting rights to four specific people.
The Yellows general manager continued: “We believe that the appropriate and only forum to discuss and make substantive decisions for the leagues is the 18th Forum of the Principal.
In this way, among other things, a unified front is created, which is optimal for achieving fair and honest results, both internally and externally.
There is no doubt that such results cannot be achieved through secret meetings.
We will not accept any other course of action than fair, proper and proper procedures.
"We call for a comprehensive investigation of the above actions, in order to determine whether as a result of this improper conduct and the holding of the meeting an illegal act was committed and to determine the damage caused by these actions to the value and viability of broadcasting rights in the long run."
Sharon Tamam continued firmly: "Every effort should be made to restore the integrity and free market of the broadcasting rights process. The principal deserves recognition for the work done before the Corona and especially during the last 12 months and the difficult shadow of dealing with the Corona plague to help clubs navigate and succeed "Together and in the best way this challenging period. The coming months will be critical on the way to bringing the football industry back into high gear. We can not imagine a situation where appealing managerial powers could ever serve the interests of the league or any individual club, easy and material not at this point in time."
"Although we are rivals on the pitch and do not always share the same interests off the field, this can in no way justify crossing lines of trust and respect between clubs while harming the clubs' main revenue source," concluded Tamam, clarifying, "Maccabi Tel Aviv to the world. You will not be a party to the agreement or any other agreement that is the result of an action taken in bad faith. "
Alona Barkat reacted innocently and said to her: "How do you say such a thing? We do everything for the benefit of Israeli football."