For four years now, a heavy shadow has been hovering over Hapoel Tel Aviv, which is called “foreign debts.” The same debts that accrued to the disciplinary institutions of UEFA and FIFA until the liquidation period in December 2016. The debts of the Nisnov-Toshav-Greenberg Group have no responsibility for their formation, but when it acquired Hapoel Tel Aviv from the liquidators Adv. Shaul Kotler and CPA Chen Berdychev undertook to take care of the subject.
In the liquidation report, the liquidators stated that the debts to UEFA and FIFA are close to 5 million euros, including claims from Kaiserslautern, Livio Antel, Lucas Wintra, Marco Simic, Damir Shuvshitch, Thun, Abadj Since then, the red owners have hired the services of lawyer Yossi Geyer, who worked to reduce the debts and now, according to the latest letter from FIFA, they stand at about NIS 18 million.
On January 27, the important hearing will be held at CAS, the High Court of Sports, which will be a significant step on the way to resolving the ongoing saga, although it is important to note that the road to the finish line is still long. Since we are in the Corona era the hearing will be held online and not in Lausanne, Switzerland, in the presence of three judges. One judge elected by Hapoel Tel Aviv (the appellant), FIFA (the respondent) elected the second judge, and the president or president of the appellate court appointed the third judge who will also be the president of the panel. Hapoel wanted to consolidate all the remaining cases and discuss them as one piece, and therefore the discussion will include nine different cases. A month before the decisive discussion, the sports channel puts you in order.
CAS Discussion – How Does It Work? And what does that mean?
In order to understand in depth the meaning of a hearing in the High Court of Sport we spoke with Lawyer Ephraim Barak, Who serves as Dayan at CAS and was previously also the legal advisor of the Football Association. It is important to note that Barak refused to address the substance of the matter due to his role in Cass, but rather helped us understand the general essence of a discussion in this institution.
“First of all, it is important to understand what the discussion is about. I do not know in depth the specific procedure, but as far as I understand the current owners of Hapoel Tel Aviv claim that because they acquired the club in liquidation proceedings, Hapoel Tel Aviv under their management does not have to pay the funds These, and of course, have legal arguments in the matter. However, this claim was rejected by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, which is also the body that can impose disciplinary sanctions on parties that do not comply with FIFA regulations, and decided that the current Hapoel Tel Aviv should pay These duties. “
“On these decisions Hapoel appealed to Cass. Therefore, the issue as I understand it is who is supposed to pay the money? Does Hapoel Tel Aviv current or should this debt remain within the liquidation portfolio and be paid out of the liquidation assets, if and when there are assets there. “That is, the discussion of whether a body under the verb Tel Aviv must or does not have to be finally decided and the question now for discussion is who owes and how much, because sometimes in liquidation proceedings the amount of debt approved for payment, if any, is lower than the actual amount,” explained Adv. Barak. .
“As far as the procedure is concerned, once the panel is appointed, the parties’ statements of claim go to the judges and some time later a hearing is scheduled,” Adv. Barak said of the procedure, “In general, hearings in Cass can last from one to two days. Between three and five days. “
“In a normal situation, when there is no Corona, all parties, witnesses and lawyers make their way to Switzerland and on the day of the hearing meet Cass himself. This is a properly organized legal process – opening claims, witnesses, investigators, cross-examinations, and summaries, when everything is oral. Completion in writing. In 95 percent of the cases, this entire step is done orally, “Adv. Barak continued.” Once the hearing is over, the panel of judges discusses the case with each other in light of the findings and evidence before it “.
how long can it take? “Each case is a case in itself, according to its circumstances. There are cases in which a verdict is obtained within a month, but a reasonable time estimate in this hearing is at least three months. Keep in mind that these are several consolidated cases and even if they have the same question, it is not impossible that Differences in the facts are relevant and therefore the time can be longer, “explained Adv. Barak.
The red side is optimistic
Hapoel Tel Aviv officials also believe that the verdict will be handed down in at least two or three months because this is a case that includes difficult and complex legal questions. Hapoel Tel Aviv’s legal claims are many, but it is possible to talk about two main ones. One, “We are a new club, so the debts accumulated over the years are not related to us, but should be paid from the liquidation fund.” The second, relies on Israeli law, which prohibits the preference of creditors, that is, to pay one creditor over the other. Hapoel therefore claims that they cannot legally pay the debts to foreign players and foreign teams before the Israeli creditors receive their money.
“It is important to emphasize that according to FIFA’s rules, a new club that was established after the dissolution is responsible for the club’s debts that have been disbanded.” Lawyer Yossi Convert He added: “FIFA thinks it has a different law from the general law, not only Israeli but everywhere else in the world.”
Despite the legal complexity, the Red Club are optimistic about Hass’s ruling. “My assessment is that there is a chance that the judges will decide that they are not discussing it because the liquidation case is still pending in the Tel Aviv District Court, and then we will continue to try to get along with the creditors in the negotiations, of course,” explained Attorney Geir.
If things do not work out in favor of Hapoel Tel Aviv, they have another option and that is to appeal to the federal court in Switzerland. Such a process may also take several months, so even if the judges decide that Hapoel Tel Aviv must pay the debts, it will not happen this season because That the legal proceedings will not come to an end.
“The Swiss Federal Court is like our Supreme Court,” explained Advocate Barak, adding: “Unlike the situation in the country where proceedings against arbitration awards begin in the district court, in Switzerland the appeal is submitted directly to the Supreme Court. There were not many cases in which the court reversed Hass’ decision, although there were. There have been cases in which the Swiss court has concluded that the Cass erred mainly in the procedure and therefore intervened in the ruling, but this, as stated, in a few cases. In general, courts do not intervene in the essence of the arbitration award, except when the procedure was improper. “
It is important to note that as long as the legal process takes place, FIFA is not authorized to apply such and such sanctions (lowering points, lowering the league, etc.) on Hapoel Tel Aviv. In addition, the club claim that even if the ruling is not in their favor, and the appeal to the Swiss federal court will not help and FIFA demands the payments from them, they can apply to the district court and issue a restraining order to the Football Association, which is subject to FIFA and should enforce its decisions.
Bottom line, the discussion in Cass is indeed significant and dramatic, but it seems that the matter of “foreign debts” will still occupy Hapoel Tel Aviv in the coming months, and us as well.
