Gal Mekel, co-owner of Hapoel Jerusalem, spoke to the media at the Arena ahead of the club’s semifinal series against Hapoel Tel Aviv about a myriad of topics including the talk of bringing in veteran Serbian Head Coach Sasa Obradovic, to the fans, but primarily about the ongoing discussions with the Euroleague.

“As you know, we submitted an application for a two-year wild card. I can say that our ultimate goal is to become permanent members of the EuroLeague and secure a franchise license. We’ve been in this process with the EuroLeague for several years. I think that in the last few months, the EuroLeague has been moving in a very positive direction, with a clear vision, transparency, and a defined roadmap for the coming years. Most importantly, there is a lot of hope for clubs that are not currently shareholders.”

There has been talks and rumors about the league trying to increase the amount of teams in the competition after having recently gone from 18 to 20, “The direction is to expand to 24 teams within two to three years. For us, the main piece of news is that beyond those 24 teams, there will be room for at least five additional clubs to become new shareholders in the league and receive franchise status. That’s what we’re aiming for.

“We’ve been working on it extensively behind the scenes for a long time. It’s not something that happens overnight, but it is our ultimate objective. As part of that, we want to get our foot in the door as soon as possible. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to qualify for the EuroLeague by winning the EuroCup this season, but we do see an opportunity to do so through a wild card, which is why we submitted the proposal.”

Mekel also assessed Jerusalem’s chances of making their way into the premier European basketball competition despite the fact that there is still some issues with playing games back in Israel.

“I can say that the uncertainty, mainly because of the security situation, does not help us. I would say that if, God willing, an agreement is signed in the next two weeks, I think our chances are very high. If no agreement is signed, then our chances are lower. The way I see it right now, of course, Bourg gave up its option to play in the Euroleague and Monaco is still a major question mark. It doesn’t look like both of them will be there, but we’ll see. I think that at the moment the two main candidates are us and Beşiktaş and we’ll see what happens. Hopefully things work out.”

Should Jerusalem join the Euroleague, that would mean there would be three Israeli teams in the league as the capital city reds would be there together with Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv, “I don’t know what others are trying or not trying to do, but I can say that when Israeli teams are not hosting games at home, it obviously makes it harder to add another Israeli team. Still, we’re doing our best, and we hope things work out for the other clubs as well. We’ll see. As I said, the ultimate goal is to become permanent members. There’s a window of opportunity over the next two or three years, and we’re going after it with everything we’ve got.”

There are of course things that the Euroleague is looking for from their member clubs to become permanent members in the league itself, “Regarding the criteria for permanent membership, there are many parameters. First of all, according to what has been communicated to us, a franchise license will cost tens of millions of euros—between €50 million and €85 million. Beyond that, there are many factors involving market size, fan base, potential, revenues, and especially the quality of ownership. The EuroLeague is looking for ownership groups that can add value and provide long-term stability, and I think we have a lot to offer in that overall picture.”

Mekel shifted gears to talk about the fans and how they have not been coming to games in droves like they used to but as to how important they are to the team’s success, “First of all, it’s obvious that our fans are our strength. This has been a very, very long season. Ups and downs, successes, disappointments, heartbreak. But what’s happened up until now is in the past. We’re now in a situation where it’s trophy time. This is the time to unite and I’m certain our fans will be there with full force. The future of this club is bright. We’re planning major moves going forward and right now it’s trophy time.

“I can easily imagine 2,000–3,000 red-and-black supporters coming to the road semifinal games against Hapoel Tel Aviv, hearing only them, just as they’ve been heard in every game there so far. It doesn’t matter whether we’re playing against red, yellow, black, or green teams. After that, I imagine a packed arena here. This is the time to be together, it’s trophy time and we’re going all in.”

The co-owner also spoke about the rumors of Sasa Obradovic taking over the helm of the team from Yonatan Alon, “I won’t comment on personnel matters and also not much about next season. As I said a moment ago, all of us are fully behind Yonatan, the coaching staff and the team right now. We have a team that has proven it can beat anyone, anywhere. What I can say is that in recent months, since our elimination from the EuroCup, we’ve been working, learning, analyzing what we did well and where we made mistakes, and planning major actions for next season.”