Less than two weeks after he finished his position as chairman of the league's administration, Shmuel Frankel was a guest on the Israel Hayom podcast, and in an exclusive interview he summarized a long term of ten years full of events, crises and challenges.
"The first advice that Avner Kopel (the previous chairman of the administration, YM) gave me was that if I bring in more money - I will be fine. When I came in, the revenue was 17 million shekels - and today it is 40 million, so in terms of money I did a good job. The league Today it is professional and competitive, and there is an increase in the number of spectators in halls and on television. There are many teams that play in Europe thanks to the grants we gave to the teams that participate in Europe."
What did you not have time to do?
"Halls. It is not possible that Eilat or Herzliya will play in high school halls. We saw what a new hall did to Hapoel Holon. There were delays regarding the halls, and fortunately this year Eilat and Herzliya won by popular vote. It is impossible for the Premier League to be played in schools. Apart from that, I met most of the goals I set for myself ".
Shmuel Frankel.
A long term of ten years full of events, crises and challenges, photo: Danny Maron
You talked about your successes, so why were there chairmen who did not want you to continue for a full term?
"I don't think they didn't want to. When I finished the second term, I prepared a letter that I was ending the position and already gave it to the speaker. A delegation of three chairmen came to me and asked me to continue for another year and a half, so that I would complete ten years, so I agreed.
Good friends told me to retire at the peak and I felt that I had achieved everything I wanted, and now someone else is needed."
One of the things you tried to do and partially succeeded was to transfer the management from the hands of the board members to the chairman.
"When I arrived, it was very difficult to manage the business. Each chairman pulled in his own direction, and there were some who joined pressure groups.
So we established the executive with three representatives and a double vote of mine, that way we could look at the good of basketball and the league and not what is good for a certain team."
Shmuel Frankel.
"There was a lot of ego in the union", photo: Danny Maron
Will the chairmen agree to release the power from their hands?
"They don't want to release the power from their hands, but I wouldn't have continued in the position if the executive hadn't stood up. It was impossible to manage, it was simply hell. I wanted the powers of a commissioner like in the NBA, and through the executive we were already able to manage and passed many decisions."
Is there anything you regret?
"There may be, but I don't remember right now to tell you. There is nothing that comes to mind that I regret. I am very satisfied with what we have achieved over the years."
A permanent place for Maccabi Tel Aviv games with full payment without discounts, photo: Alan Shiver
There has been a lot of talk about your relationship with Maccabi Tel Aviv over the years.
"I've had a subscription to Maccabi games for 35 years, a permanent place with full payment without discounts. One day a group of 30 fans arrived, who came in the middle of a game to beat me up, and one of them said in my ear, 'I'll close an account with you.' They met with me before and talked about To go back to a series system instead of the Final Four. I told them to wait another year and it would happen, but they didn't accept it. After that game, they stuck nasty inscriptions on my chair."
You've complained quite a bit over the years about the National League, and had a few skirmishes with its people.
"As far as I'm concerned, the National League is the biggest problem for Israeli basketball. It's also related to the number of ups and downs. It's very difficult to move up from the first grade to the university. Unfortunately, the National League is neither managed nor marketed. For the Premier League, this is a big problem, because not enough players grow from there Good Israelis.
"As far as I'm concerned, the National League is the biggest problem of Israeli basketball", photo: Yael Harel, Director of the National League
"A large part of the teams there are not ready for promotion, and we have seen that in most years when there were two promotions - at least one of them was unable to realize the promotion. It is very difficult to jump from a budget of half a million to a million shekels to 6.5 million. We would like to take the national league under our management, But the union will not agree."
There was bad blood and personal ego struggles between you and the heads of the basketball association, which led to the ongoing conflict between the organizations. Couldn't it be solved?
"There was a lot of ego in the union. On my side there was no ego. I fought only for the benefit of the administration. I could have been a good boy and said yes to any of their requests, but I am voluntary and do not owe anyone favors, and I could put the keys away at any moment, so I insisted on the good things to the league".
Shmuel Frankel.
The end of an era in the administration, photo: Alan Shiver
What is the best advice you can give to your exchange?
"Money is a critical thing, and the more money the teams get - it will improve the league. I think there shouldn't be more than 12 teams in the league. If there are 14, it will hurt the league.
"In the search committee, I insisted that they give him more powers, and the chairmen said they would do it.
They won't give it all, but it's up to him.
He is determined and knows where he is going.
He knows how to conduct himself and is connected and I have heard good things about him.
They won't give it to him - he will have to take it and initiate."
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