Maccabi Tel Aviv Prepares for Potential EuroLeague Move to Cyprus

Maccabi Tel Aviv is preparing for the possibility of moving its EuroLeague home games to Cyprus if it becomes clear that games cannot be held in Israel in the near future. Currently, the team hosts its games in Belgrade. The club is actively working on multiple fronts to lay the groundwork for a potential move to Cyprus. This would require not only agreements with local entities but also EuroLeague approval and adherence to various requirements concerning the venue, security, broadcasting infrastructure, and hospitality logistics for teams and games. Elements of the necessary infrastructure were tested during Maccabi Tel Aviv's recent preparation tournament in Cyprus.

However, the club emphasizes that the Cyprus option is currently a backup plan. Maccabi's primary goal is to resume hosting EuroLeague games in Israel, and they continue to engage with the league's management to achieve this. As part of these efforts, club chairman Shimon Mizrahi and professional manager Claudio Coldebella met with EuroLeague CEO Jordi Bertomeu and competition manager Diego Garcia in Abu Dhabi. Following the meeting, it was agreed that Bertomeu and Garcia would visit Israel within the next two weeks as guests of Maccabi Tel Aviv to assess the situation and the feasibility of returning the games of the three Israeli teams to the country.

Maccabi is pursuing two parallel paths: completing the necessary preparations in Cyprus to have a ready alternative if needed, while simultaneously continuing efforts to persuade the EuroLeague to allow games to resume in Israel. Only if the league management decides in the coming period that a return to Israel is not yet possible, will Maccabi finalize plans to move to Cyprus.