Shimon Mizrahi - Biography

Shimon Mizrahi (born October 16, 1939, Tel Aviv) is an Israeli lawyer and the chairman of the Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball Club.

Biography

Professional career

Mizrahi is the senior partner in the B. Arnon - S. Mizrahi law office and specializes in traffic violation cases. In 2006, he defended the prominent attorney Dori Klagsbald in a high profile case of manslaughter following the death of two a mother and child killed by Klagsbald's vehicle.

Maccabi Tel Aviv

Shimon Mizrahi was appointed chairman of Maccabi in 1969, in the wake of the club's financial problems. He introduced various strategies to rescue Maccabi from bankruptcy, such as selling tickets for Maccabi games, which had previously been free. Mizrahi realized that in order to secure Maccabi's dominance in the Israeli league, it would have to sign American players. Since he became chairman in 1969 Maccabi has won the Israeli championship in all but three years (1992/93, 2007/08 and 2009/10 seasons). Maccabi has also won five European cup titles (1977, 1981, 2001, 2004, 2005).

Mizrahi was accused by his rivals of failing to make the Israeli league more competitive with plans such as payment limits. However, Mizrahi agreed to several laws which were meant to weaken Maccabi, such as the Brisker Rule, which limits the number of foreign players every team can sign, the Final Four playoff system instead of a best-of-five playoff system, and more.

Awards and accolades

• In 2007, Mizrahi was chosen by Time magazine as one of 50 best sport managers in the world.

• In 2011, he was awarded the Israel Prize for sports, for his long-time contribution for Maccabi Tel Aviv. Although this award was contested, it was upheld by the Israel High Court of Justice.

See also

• List of Israel Prize recipients

External links

• Resume of Shimon Mizrahi (in Hebrew), Israel Prize website.