Maccabi Tel Aviv’s biggest acquisition last summer was without a doubt Gabi Kanikovsky. The Yellows sent Eden Kartzev to Maccabi Netanya on a regular transfer, a sum of several hundred thousand euros and even loaned Parfa Guyagon to Eyal Segal’s club, all to return the 25-year-old midfielder who left the club five years ago for a ridiculous sum of NIS 350,000.
The Yellows’ home player, who joined them as a child from Hapoel Raanana, before returning there, made his way to Maccabi Tel Aviv back and forth several times. One of the main reasons for this when he was a teenager was the Sabbath. Kanikowski’s appearance that comes to the club’s games, training sessions or events is a very unusual thing in the local football landscape and certainly in the big teams.
A large white cap on his head, a tassel protruding from his clothes, in the end we are all Jews, and yet it is not something we are used to seeing in Israeli football. At the age of 12, when he came to Maccabi Tel Aviv, North Kanikovsky played only one game all season. The rest of the year he practiced only. The only game he played that year was a derby against Hapoel Tel Aviv after sleeping in the home of one of the players and arriving on foot for the game.
After the union between Maccabi Tel Aviv North and South, he realized that he could not just continue training without playing and returned to Hapoel Raanana. There, he agreed as a teenager to only come to home games on Saturdays. He would not appear for away games. Kanikovsky’s story with Shabbat continued when he returned to Maccabi Tel Aviv for the youth team in a deal that sent Omri Glazer to the team from Sharon. When players of this age come back or sign in the big clubs, one of the main things that is discussed in front of the management is the release grant from the army.
After all, when youth players do not really have a salary, the real money is in the IDF release grant, which comes in immediately after the end of military service. Kanikowski made it clear even then “I am not interested in money. I’m only interested in you helping me with Shabbat, “and Maccabi Tel Aviv, then under Nir Levin, acceded to the young player’s request and returned it refreshed. The knot then encountered quite a few raised eyebrows. The department was careful to discuss the matter with him and wondered in his face, “How can you be a successful footballer without the ability to travel on Saturday?”, But he did it.
He later moved to Hapoel Acre, Hapoel Petah Tikva and Maccabi Netanya. Before games held on Saturdays outside, he would make sure to get to the place the day before where he could spend the night and walk from there to the field. But the move to Maccabi Tel Aviv is more challenging. If there are no games on Saturday, then there is training. The actor resolved this conflict by moving to an apartment in Jaffa. When Maccabi Tel Aviv gathers on Saturdays for training, he walks to Kiryat Shalom. If the game is in Bloomfield, he will walk to the stadium.
They left for the game against Kiryat Shmona on the Friday before Shabbat so that he could walk to the stadium. This will be done throughout the season whenever Saturday clashes with the career. This conflict is not simple. Kanikovsky is perceived in Israeli football as “look how religious he is, with a skullcap and tassel”, but outside he can be perceived under completely different feedback such as “how he is religious and plays football on Saturday”, when asked how he defines himself he chooses the word “Jew”, and does not enter For definitions of religious or ultra-Orthodox or traditionalist, etc.
At Maccabi Tel Aviv, he received a strong locker room. Quite a few of the yellow actors are participating in Torah lessons and getting closer to religion in recent years. Perhaps in this way the entry into Maccabi Tel Aviv was easier than elsewhere. The biggest story actually took place with the move itself to Kiryat Shalom. The last 24 hours of negotiations revolved around the question: What do you do with the player’s request regarding the Sabbath?
Knikowski, Who did not speak even once with Maccabi Tel Aviv throughout the summer (everything was conducted through Dudu Dahan), had his first conversation with Barak Yitzhaki just a day before the transfer. He told him one thing “I really do not care about my salary. For my part to earn much less. Just make sure I sit down, “Yitzhaki listened, made his inquiries and complied with the request. This is actually the reason why Kanikovsky was convinced and signed with the club. After all, on the same day that he announced to Maccabi Netanya that he wanted to move to Maccabi Tel Aviv, he was even supposed to arrive and sign a new contract at Eyal Segal’s club.
But the response of Yitzhaki and the members of the club, led Kanikovsky to change his mind. He would not have become a student if not for football, but at home after training he studies Torah and tries to go to as many classes as possible. He did get married at a young age, but it did not happen for religious reasons, but simply because he found one. One of the things that will bother him the most throughout his career is the discourse that exists within and around football teams, a discourse that is full of slander and unpleasant words, but he tries to avoid it and stay away from it as much as possible.
Kanikovsky is probably the only player in the Premier League who also does not maintain an active Instagram account. To him it is an unnecessary preoccupation that wastes his time. And what after football? Will he go in the directions of a completely religious lifestyle? Kneeling he does not think about it. Most likely if he had not stayed in football it would have been his direction. But he decided to go in a brave direction. Try to be a successful footballer and continue his life as a Jew, as he believes, with great effort. In the meantime it succeeds for him in a very impressive way and it seems that the sky is the limit for this special child.
Not for nothing has he been interviewed in his life. He tries to escape the spotlight, but later on ONE we will provide you with the first in-depth interview with Gabi Kanikovsky. Probably the most special player currently playing in the Premier League. Do not miss.
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