Ex-Maccabi Tel Aviv Player Viktor Belkin Admits to Marijuana Use During Championship Season

Former Maccabi Tel Aviv midfielder Viktor Belkin, now 53, has revealed in a recent interview that he smoked marijuana during the club's championship-winning 1995 season. Belkin, who played two stints in Israel and won the league title in 1995, contributing four goals and five assists, also admitted to struggling with aggression and excess after his football career. He stated that marijuana helped calm him, and he became addicted for about ten years, until 2014.

Belkin's post-playing career has taken a unique turn. After leaving football, he worked as a hotel porter in the Dead Sea region of Israel, a period he described as having "money, drugs, and alcohol, but I wasn't happy." He later returned to Ukraine, lived in isolation in a village for seven years, and experienced psychological changes and visions, which he attributes to his subconscious surfacing. He is now a facilitator for Qi Gong and Hatha Yoga retreats in Ukraine, charging between $300 and $450, with the goal of "purifying the person."

During his playing days, Belkin was considered a wasted talent in Ukraine and did not fully realize his potential in Israel, despite being preferred by coach Avraham Grant over another trialist. Belkin felt a deep connection to Israel, later discovering Jewish roots on his mother's side. An early injury during his first season with Maccabi Tel Aviv led him to resume marijuana use, negatively impacting his physical recovery and requiring further surgery.

After his time with Maccabi Tel Aviv, Belkin briefly played for Beitar Beer Sheva and Maccabi Kiryat Gat. However, financial issues with Kiryat Gat and a relapse into drug use led to him losing everything and returning to Ukraine penniless. Despite these struggles, Belkin remembers his time in Israel fondly and feels he left his past self behind, achieving a state of self-awareness that allows him to live with equanimity and an open heart.