Haifa's municipality has told Hapoel Haifa it owes the city 190,000 shekels and, this time, has no intention of letting the debt slide, according to a report by the Israeli sports site One.
The message from City Hall reportedly carries a concrete threat attached to it: if the club doesn't settle up, it risks losing the use of Beit Neigler, the training complex near Kiryat Haim Stadium where Hapoel Haifa's senior squad and youth sides currently prepare.
The timing bites. The claim lands just days before Hapoel Haifa travel across town for a Haifa derby against Maccabi Haifa at Sammy Ofer Stadium, a Toto Cup fixture set for Saturday, July 25.
It is also not the club's only financial headache this summer. On June 3, the Haifa District Court ruled in a long-running dispute between Hapoel Haifa and the Histadrut, the labor federation, ordering the club to pay 1.485 million shekels plus VAT for years of use of the Kiryat Haim facility — with the court also fixing monthly rent going forward at 30,000 shekels and giving the club 30 days to pay.
That case centered on a dispute between club owner Yoav Katz and the Histadrut, with the ruling noted at the time as a heavy blow given the club has barely used the facility in recent years.
Squad-building has proceeded modestly against that backdrop. One's reporting describes a roster refreshed mainly with players drawn from the lower divisions alongside some already-established top-flight names, rather than a marquee outlay, with contract talks over the continued participation of some existing squad members still unresolved heading into the new season.
The 190,000-shekel municipal figure has so far been reported only by One, and this desk could not independently corroborate that specific sum with a second named outlet before publication — a gap worth flagging given how quickly financial disputes involving Israeli clubs and local authorities tend to get contested or revised.
What is independently documented is the club's broader financial squeeze: the Histadrut judgment, the loss of significant municipal support in recent budget cycles, and now a fresh dispute over training-ground access, all arriving in the same close season as Hapoel Haifa try to build a squad capable of competing in the derby and beyond.
