Premier League: Rejected this week, chairman of the interview on 103 FM

Around the outbreak of the Corona virus and the Health Ministry’s instructions to limit the crowd to 5,000 viewers, the league manager decided Reject Premier League in one week. Erez Lehapon, head of the league, was interviewed on Thursday in the 103FM radio sports program, explaining the decision that is considered puzzling for quite a few factors.Packed up He said: “First of all yesterday evening we received a message from the Ministry of Health to increase viewers to 5,000. I held an emergency meeting where before me the most important thing is how to finish the league on a legal date and at the same time how to help groups to reduce the revenue of the audience. The goal of postponing the cycle this week is to help groups prepare logistically for the new situation and at the same time we think how we can increase the amount of the audience. ”

How the Maccabi Tel Aviv match against Jerusalem in basketball draws 9,000 fans“We are just consulting with the stadium managers and we hope that we can change the decision by next week. At the moment we are aiming to change the Ministry of Health’s decisions to prevent the economic damage and at the same time keep the health of the fans.”

“Thinking about how we can increase the audience.” Sami Ofer Stadium (Maor Aleksey)

Broadcasting franchises had an impact on gaming“Really not. The meeting took place for almost six hours. Don’t forget that the top playoff revenue has a big impact on paying salaries and that would be a serious financial injury. The decision of all the worst options offered was the worst.”

Do you think about risking human life“We are following the Health Ministry’s guidelines, so we have been pushing for a logistical week to reduce the crowd to 5,000 that includes police officers, executives and players. I am not forcing the Ministry of Health anything. We will not exert any pressure and even if they decide without a crowd, That’s how we do it. Because football is held in open space, we think about how it will be possible to get more viewers. ”

“It was important for us to have one game, before the national championship” (Udi Citiat)

Did the team carcass arrive in good time: “We did not want to hurt the Israeli team and we only postponed a week, so the players could play in a game. I can say that I spoke with the Swiss league general manager. They postponed the games in two weeks that will probably be held without an audience. Ultimately, this solution helps to minimize the damage as well as letting players play. ”

What were the reactions of the big team owners?: “Without going into what they said at the meeting, their distress certainly sounded. There is a financial loss of millions of shekels. There is a situation that groups will have to compensate some of the fans. Nobody comes to the Ministry of Health complaints, but in the end there will be economic damage to the groups. The groups understand the distress of their teams. ”

“Owners of large groups could lose millions of shekels” (Avshalom Shoshani)