Udi Recanati: "The decision to appoint Avi Even was the right one. There is a chance he will continue."

The owners of Maccabi Tel Aviv broke a long silence and referred to the status of Nikola Vujicic ("It is valued everywhere, but there are no sacred cows"), the introduction of new partners ("not on the agenda. We poured hundreds of millions into this business"), Israeli strengthening (" Ginat and Madar on the radar ") and the next season:" We will have to build differently "

Almond light

23/03/2022

Wednesday, March 23, 2022, 7 p.m.

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Maccabi Tel Aviv owner Udi Recanati (Photo: Yotam Ronen, Editing: Tal Reznik)

For many months, Maccabi Tel Aviv has been in an ongoing crisis, but throughout the period, its leaders refrained from appearing in front of the cameras and answering questions.

The club released a video of chairman Shimon Mizrahi after the dismissal of Yannis Sapropoulos, manager Ami Bitton was interviewed on television after the relegation by Hapoel Tel Aviv from the State Cup, and that was all in fact. Yesterday (Tuesday) owner Udi Recanati had an open conversation with media representatives. Udi

Recanati

's are rarely heard, to what extent? It is difficult to find documentation online when he last spoke to the media, and it is certain that there is no such thing as when he was interviewed. Yesterday (Tuesday) at the Maccabi Tel Aviv game with Milan , Who holds 29 percent of the ownership of Maccabi Tel Aviv, had an open conversation with representatives of the media and was free to answer many questions regarding the club's functioning and decisions.

"It's not my habit to stand or sit in front of the media and talk. I do not like to perform, and I have been careful about it my whole career," said Recanati, 72, who owns 29 percent of Maccabi Tel Aviv.

"I preferred to be behind the scenes and do what I do quietly and peacefully. In light of all the changes that have happened, and in light of the pressure we have to appear a little more in the media, I was asked to appear once. Maccabi Tel Aviv is very important to me, and I wanted to say what we have to say.

" We are not transparent enough and maybe we do not talk enough, "he admitted." I have been with Maccabi since 1974, and at that time only Shimon spoke to the journalists.

Things were kept quiet and in rooms, today the communication is completely different.

"Everything is out there and they want to know, so I will try to answer the questions and give our fans, who are so important to us, a feeling that we are not hiding or underestimating anyone."

More on Walla!

Looking at the whites of the eyes: Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Milan 58:75

To the full article

"Someone had to go into the locker room, and he had minimal damage."

Avi Even (Photo: Udi Citation)

"A lot of people think that decisions are taken from the waist up," Recanati said of the decision to fire Sapropolus.

"We all love and appreciate Yannis, but it got to a difficult crisis point, and could not go on. He himself felt he had exhausted everything he could do. We sat for many hours and analyzed the situation. You have a coach who for three years outlined a certain path and brought stability. "On that side. You remember the year with the four coaches we suffered a lot. It's easy to tell the coach to go, but it's hard to continue from that point."

"We were in a situation where there were four and a half months left until the end of the season, and we were thinking of only two people. If there was a coach at the level of Ettore Messina, Zeljko Oberdovic or Sharonas Jasikevicius, I would invest a big budget with the others. My father was Pini Gershon's assistant coach. , By Guy Goodes, by David Blatt, by Zvika Sharaf. He came from a school of four coaches, each of whom has a cannon in his field. He rubbed exceptionally well and knows the team well, and could have acclimatized better than the others. Before he arrived, he knew them together with Nikola Vujicic. He swam in the deep water, they know him and he coaches a large part of them three times a week. The cells like a glove next to.

"The other coach on the episode was Oded Katash. He is an excellent guy who grew up with us, but he did not want a four-month contract. We turned to my father and called him to the flag, I told him we needed him. For him it was a difficult decision, and he did not agree immediately. His, and had to convince him to come. I'm happy and thank him for taking the job. I'm very pleased with that decision, she was in place at the time, which was a difficult time for us. Someone had to go into the locker room, and the minimum damage was my father. I think the decision was right ".

"There is always a possibility that he will continue. This week we played against Upper Galilee, which is not Real Madrid, Barcelona and Milan, and I felt a great spirit in the team. I saw four or five Israelis in a league game, and when I see the spirit that was there, it is possible he will continue. Until the end of the season, to leave ourselves the option to choose a coach and build a team properly.

"We are looking for a coach who can fit into the team in a minimum of time. Someone who does not know the league is a problem, and he needs to know the Euroleague and he needs to be with our DNA, about how important we are to treat players."

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"Teams that would have won four championships, would have walked around with a tense chest. For you it is not an achievement."

Udi Recanati (Photo: Yotam Ronen)

The one who trusts the professional side of Maccabi Tel Aviv and wins without a bit of criticism, but remains stable in his position despite the failures over the years is Vujicic.

"There are no sacred cows," Recanati says when asked if the group has considered ending the contract with him as well.

"Nicola has won titles with us and played in the team for six years, won the European Cup twice, and is a figure far beyond his responsibility on the professional side. He has free entry into the Euroleague and the NBA, he is a familiar figure everywhere, he is known and appreciated. He has many certificates. He knows great basketball, he knows all the agents in Europe and the USA.

He's a tough Croatian who knows how to negotiate, and he has a lot of points.

"Alongside that, you measure and say that since winning the Euroleague in 2014, which was a good entry ticket for him, in the years he was sports director we took the national championship four times in a row, and we hope to take the fifth, we were in the top 8 last season. "European Cup and we were not in the Final Four, but there were achievements. We will have freedom of action in the summer to choose a new coach, build a very good team. There are no sacred cows, and if we think Nicola or someone else is not doing his job properly - we will change, .

"We did not have a sports director before. The late Shmlock Makharovsky played such a role and was omnipotent.

I am never satisfied, and always want more.

I want a European Championship and Cup every year, to take the National Cup and every trophy that goes around in our area.

Is this feasible?

Not sure.

He is fulfilling his role.

Is there anyone who can do the job better?

Could be, not sure.

Things will be examined, and if we think there will be someone like that, there might be a change one day.

"We're sure he does a lot of work. For example, the interaction between him and a coach. When you take Nicola and he asks the coach why he makes these substitutions, why you brought in Scotty Wilbkin or why you took out, he can comment and the coach will hear him. He has a statement. "He is not above the coach, because the coach decides, but he is the character next to him and he challenges him in every issue and subject. He does these things well."

"Appreciate him and think he's an actor. I hope he comes to us one day."

Yam Madar (Photo: GettyImages, Nikola Krstic / MB Media)

For the past two years, Maccabi Tel Aviv has worked under the restrictions of the safety net, which forced it to reduce its budget by 20 percent, which will stop this coming summer.

"It was a terrible time, and despite all the difficulties we managed to keep the team, and we kept it in the country in an extraordinary way. Unfortunately we could not continue to the top 8 two years ago, but we secured the place even before stopping. This year we did not reach the top 8. "We will continue to fight for every opportunity. Next year we will not be limited in the budget section and we are starting to build the team."

"In the middle of the Euroleague. Maccabi Tel Aviv has never been among the most prominent teams in the budget segment. We have managed with much smaller budgets than others. Real, Milan, Barcelona and Fenerbahce are funded by their football departments, everything is one piece and it does not matter if they put in or Losing money - there are those who cover. Private ownership is different, and we are one of the most prominent clubs in this field

. Leading in European Cup winning.

This is an extraordinary achievement.

Over the years, we have poured hundreds of millions of shekels into this business, and we will do so in the future if necessary.

The ambition is to balance ourselves.

It's not a business, it's a very expensive hobby, and we all do our best to bring in the most suitable people. "

"He's a huge scientist, and he has free entry into the Euroleague and the NBA."

Nikola Vujicic (Photo: Official Website, Sefi Magrizo, The Official Website of Maccabi Tel Aviv)

- Is there a chance that we will see more people join the group in order to make money?

"More money can definitely help. We have no plan to bring in someone else. The owners provide the group's consumption. If we thought we would need external funding in some way, we would consider it. We take care of Maccabi's existence and success every day. "We will put our hand in our pocket and we will pay. If what we have in our pocket is not enough, we may think about other things. It is not on the agenda."

"First of all, we are not giving up on this season. Will there be a problem with the subscribers? I hope not. I hope our fans will back us up, and ask them to back us up as we go through a difficult and complicated period. Easy to criticize and I know it hurts terribly. I did not like the. The losses to Hapoel Tel Aviv, it hurt us all and hurt the fans who want to see change. We are trying to change. I ask them not to forget us in difficult times and give us support in the future as well.

"One of the reasons I'm here today is because I hear their pain, and they think we look down on them and the media when they do not speak. God forbid, on the contrary. What matters to us is that they be with us. The firm does an outstanding job of being in touch with subscribers. "We see Maccabi not only as a basketball team. For me it is a Zionist segment. Maccabi Tel Aviv in Europe is an empire, and we want to keep it an empire. We are after seven years like this, and we will continue. There have been ups and downs, and we want to go in a different direction and succeed."

"I wish we could find players within the State of Israel who could have developed at the Euroleague level. There are Tomer Ginat and Yam Madar, there are players who are abroad, and they are also on our radar.

We watch all the time, seeing all the best players possible.

We want all the best with us.

Madar is not with us, not because of us and maybe not because of him.

We appreciate him and think he is an actor.

At this point he can not come to us, I hope he will come to us one day.

"Why don't they say we hugged Yuval Sussman all the time, and then he came up with a theory and I sat with him and his parents for hours? I wanted him to continue at Maccabi at all costs, there was no problem with money. He wanted to change the atmosphere and see what happens outside. "In his face is the hat he wanted for this freedom. Hopefully he will cook, get stronger and say he wants to return to Maccabi. He plays well against us."

"Reached a difficult crisis point, and could not continue. He himself felt he was exhausted."

Yannis Sapropoulos (Photo: Lilach Weiss)

- Were you willing to accept losses in your business for seven years?

"Fortunately, sport is not a business. No team in the Euroleague makes money, the considerations are other considerations. In my business I would not agree to lose money every year. What is an achievement? Every team in the country has a goal to win the championship, and if one of them won like us four years In a row, she would jump with a tense chest. For you it is not an achievement. We used the crowd well. I am happy and want to take a championship every year, to annoy everyone.

"I am not happy with the achievements, and I am not willing to lose to Hapoel Tel Aviv and Bnei Herzliya three times a season it bothers me.

In sports it can happen, and it happened, so we replaced the coach.

Is he guilty?

A year or two ago he had a similar staff and was large.

Everyone loved him and shouted at him 'Yannis, Yannis'.

I think he's a good coach.

Was he successful?

This year not.

Can I put my finger on it if the problem is Derek Williams or one actor or another?

It's a combination of all things together.

"You do a home inspection and start to see how to build things differently," Recanati referred to next season.

"We'll see what we can keep, because we want to keep a certain cadre. We will have to analyze these seasons in the Euroleague, even though two years ago we would have reached at least the top 8, if not more. We will think about how to build stronger."

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