By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
As it was announced today, the league manager approved the memorandum of understanding reached with the players’ union during last night.
The 33rd round of the regular season will be held on Sunday at 20:45 and the playoffs quarterfinals will be held in the best of 5 games starting this Tuesday. The Final Four remains at the original dates: June 11 and 14.
Despite yesterday’s announcement, the league clarified that in the upcoming season the “Russian Rule” will continue to exist “according to which each team is obliged to have two Israeli players at any given moment on the court with up to six foreigners registered on the game form. Any team that registers four foreign players or less throughout the season will win a financial bonus from the manager, while a team that registers six foreigners will pay a sum which will be divided between the teams with four foreigners or less“.
However, it was also announced that things may change in the 2019-20 season: “It was decided to establish a joint committee under the auspices of the Ministry of Sports, which will begin operating immediately at the end of the current season and will work until the 1st of August. If no joint agreements are accepted, in the 2019/20 season the teams will be able to register up to five foreigners in the game and in any case, they will not be able to use all of them simultaneously on the court. A team that will register three foreigners or less during the season will receive a bonus, while a club that will register five foreigners will be charged a fee”.
Initially, the players asked for the “Russian Rule” to be validated for the next five seasons and the number of foreign players reduced to three for each team. However, even this compromise is a big win for their side and protects the domestic talent in the team’s rosters.