By Niki Bakouli/ bakouli@eurohoops.net
This is a weekend without basketball in Israel. The 22th gameday of the domestic league has been postponed due to a strike by the Israeli players organization. The players are asking for a three years deal with the league, during which the teams will be allowed to register four foreigners and could use on the same time on the court only three of them, the “Russian rule” as it is known, because it was first used by the Russian league. After those three years, the players wish to reduce even more the number of foreigner to three for each team.
The counter proposal of the league is for the teams to have five foreigners, instead of six that are allowed this season, and use them according to the “Russian rule”. The negotiations are ongoing, but at this point there isn’t any deal in place.