(Haipo) – Haifa businessman Shai Yohai Klausner has purchased the management and control rights of the Maccabi Haifa Basketball senior team from the Maccabi Haifa Carmel Association. As part of the deal, the team will be transferred to private and independent management, with a significant capital injection and the implementation of a multi-year plan aimed at returning the club to the Premier League. At the same time, Benny Katz has been appointed head coach for the 2026/27 season.
Structural change in the club and transition to private ownership
The move marks a significant change in the structure of the Maccabi Haifa Basketball Club. In a deal signed with the Maccabi Haifa Carmel Association, Klausner acquired the operating rights of the alumni team and will now bear full responsibility for its professional and financial management. For the first time in years, the alumni team will operate under a single private ownership, with a long-term planning horizon, a stable budget framework and a professional management structure designed to enable rapid decision-making, multi-year planning and the building of an infrastructure that will serve the club for years to come. Klausner will provide the team with significant private funding that will allow it to operate with high professional standards and financial stability.
A plan for returning to the Premier League and cooperation with the youth department
At the center of the plan is a clear goal: returning Maccabi Haifa to the Premier League and building a stable, professional and sustainable club that can re-establish itself at the top of Israeli basketball over time. Alongside building the roster for the upcoming season, the new management will work to expand the club's circle of business partners, sponsors and supporters. Maccabi Haifa's youth department will continue to operate within the framework of the Maccabi Haifa Carmel Association, with the two frameworks operating in full coordination with the aim of maintaining professional continuity and allowing the young players a clear path of progression to the senior team.
Benny Katz appointed head coach for next season
Ahead of the 2026/27 season, Maccabi Haifa has completed the appointment of Benny Katz as the team's head coach. Katz has already begun building the roster and preparing the team for the upcoming season, as part of the new management's professional plan. Maccabi Haifa Association CEO Roi Schwatz said that "our goal over the past two years has been to find the senior team a stable and strong framework that could provide it with the necessary tools to return to the Premier League," adding that "Shay Klausner has accompanied Maccabi Haifa for many years out of true love for the club and commitment to sports in the city."
Klausner: "Maccabi Haifa is much more than a basketball club"
New owner Shai Yohai Klausner defined Maccabi Haifa as "part of the sporting identity of the city of Haifa and a source of pride for thousands of fans." Klausner explained that "the decision to take ownership stems from the understanding that in order to return Maccabi Haifa to its rightful place, full, professional and financial commitment is required, over the long term." He added that the vision is "to build a stable, professional and ambitious club, connected to its fans and operating with responsibility and long-term planning," and invited the club's fans and the city's business community to join the move.
CEO of the Maccabi Haifa Association, Roy Schwatz: "In the past two years, since the basketball team returned to the association's management, we have worked tirelessly to find it a more stable and stronger home - one that could provide it with the financial and managerial backing necessary to return to the Premier League, Maccabi Haifa's natural place.
We went through a challenging and exciting period together, which included successes alongside disappointments, during which we realized that without significant municipal support, the association alone would not be able to march the group to where it aspires to reach.
Therefore, this is an important and significant move for the entire club. Shai Klausner accompanies Maccabi Haifa out of a true love for the club and a deep commitment to sports in the city. The fact that he has chosen to take on full ownership and responsibility for the senior team is real news, and we believe that the experience, abilities and vision he brings with him will help build a stable and strong foundation for many years to come.
I would like to thank all the partners, supporters, and sponsors who have accompanied us in recent years and helped keep the group alive even during complex times, and I am sure they will continue to be part of the journey in the future.
"Above all, thank you to the incredible fan base of Maccabi Haifa, who accompanies the team everywhere in the country, in both the high and the low moments. This audience is the beating heart of the club, and I am sure that the new management will know how to embrace it and share it in the path that opens today."
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Hopefully it will work out and we can go back to the good old days. We won't forget that we won a championship and a year later we lost another championship by one point. We won't forget that we lost a cup final against Holon because of a three-pointer in the last second. They went up and succeeded.
😍The time has come for us to witness the ✨️"Maccabi Haifa Basketball" team winning hahahaha in the "Super League" at least at the "national level"...!!!😭🙏
GOOD LUCK🙏
Maccabi Haifa's management managed to destroy what was built over years in the young women's volleyball teams.