Maccabi Haifa Awaits Agba's Departure to Register Novakovic Under Foreign Player Limit

Maccabi Haifa is currently unable to register forward Andrea Novakovic, who signed with the club about a month ago, due to restrictions under the Israeli Foreign Player Registration Law. The team must first sell striker Peter Agba to free up a foreign player slot before Novakovic can be included in the squad for upcoming matches, including against Hapoel Ramat Gan.

The law permits a maximum of eight foreign players to be registered per team. Maccabi Haifa already registered eight foreign players last season, including Cedric Don, Yila Betay, Pedro, Agba, and Manuel Benson. This season, they added Nigel Lonwijk, Tsunami, and Bruninho, reaching the limit and preventing the registration of Novakovic.

While all eight foreign players can be on the field simultaneously, no team has yet registered the full eight at once. Maccabi Tel Aviv previously rotated seven foreign players across two competitions, unlike Maccabi Haifa. The club faces a potential fine of one million shekels if it violates the foreign player limit.

The current foreign players at Maccabi Haifa include defenders Yila Betay, Wanderson Tsunami, Nigel Lonwijk, and Pedro; midfielder Peter Agba (expected to leave); and attackers Bruninho, Manuel Benson, Cedric Don, and Novakovic (not yet registered). The club is awaiting Agba's transfer to complete Novakovic's registration and field him in official matches.