Support and Grants for Sports Nonprofits: The 2027 Guide

Category: Nonprofits | Reading time: approx. 7 minutes

Most sports clubs in Israel operate as nonprofits (amutot). Participation fees, sponsorships and donations cover only part of the costs — coaches, facilities, transport, insurance and league registration fees — and the rest is completed by public support: from the state, through the Sport Administration at the Ministry of Culture and Sport, and from the local authority. This money is not an automatic grant. It is given under criteria published in advance, only to those who meet the threshold conditions and file on time — and it requires orderly reporting after it is received.

Who Provides the Money

The Sport Administration at the Ministry of Culture and Sport

Support is given under section 3A of the Budget Foundations Law and the Accountant General's directives, through equal support criteria. For 2026, criteria were published for, among others, clubs and associations, women's sport, community sport, sports centers, training and competition centers, policing and stewarding in the leagues, integration of Israeli players and the sport basket in local authorities — as well as special criteria for returning to routine training and for loss of income due to the security situation.

The Local Authority

Municipalities and councils support sports clubs under the Ministry of Interior's procedure for supporting public institutions (Director-General Circular 4/2006). The application is filed with the authority's support committee, under criteria the authority publishes, and each authority has its own timetable. Details below.

What About the Toto Money?

Until the end of 2022, a "joint support committee" of the Ministry of Culture and Sport and the Sports Betting Board operated under a temporary provision in the Sports Betting Regulation Law (section 9B, in force in 2019–2022). The temporary provision has expired, and the 2027 support criteria for clubs rely on section 3A of the Budget Foundations Law alone. We have not found a current route in which a club applies for support directly from the Board — the money for clubs flows through the Ministry's criteria.

The 2027 Support Criteria for Clubs: Threshold Conditions

The 2027 criteria for supporting federations, associations and sports clubs set, among others, the following conditions for a club:

• A recognized sport — activity in an Olympic, Paralympic or non-Olympic sport.
• Registration with an association supported in the same year.
• A link to the authority — a declaration that most of the activity takes place in the local authority the club represents, or in a neighboring authority.
• Team sports — more than 80% of the maximum number of players on the match sheet (70% for women's teams), and a senior team must have a youth or girls' team under its auspices.
• Individual sports — at least 15 active athletes, from school age upward.

An "athlete" is counted only if they have a valid medical examination and insurance as required by the Sports Law. A club that does not arrange both loses athletes in the count — and sometimes its compliance with the threshold conditions.

How Support Is Calculated in Team Sports

Under the 2027 criteria, support in team sports is calculated in points:

• Points by league level — in a sport with three or more leagues: 10 points for a team in the first league, 5 in the second and 2.5 in the third.
• Achievement bonus — 30%, 20% and 10% for first to third place (15%, 10% and 5% when there are several leagues at the same level).
• Additional bonuses — 30% for the periphery, 20% for an authority with a low socio-economic ranking, and a bonus for women's teams (100% in the top sports and 80% in the other sports).
• Point value — the sport's budget divided by the total points. A single team will not receive more than 25% of the sport's budget, and support of less than ILS 2,000 is not paid.

The consolidated version of the 2026 criteria also set a ceiling of 90% of the activity's expenses and an overhead ceiling of 22%. The financial statements and the allocation of expenses in the books therefore directly affect the amount actually received.

Filing: The Sigma System and What to Attach

Applications to the Sport Administration are filed in the Sigma system — the system that replaced the Merkava portal. The filing includes two types of documents:

• At the application level — a declaration of meeting the threshold conditions, and an undertaking to return an advance if it turns out not to be due.
• At the entity level — a proper-management certificate, a declaration of authorized signatories and an undertaking for receiving support (digitally signed by two authorized signatories), and a summary of the entity's support and contracts.
• Founding documents — filed the first time, or when something has changed: certificate of registration, bylaws, status with the Tax Authority, bank account details and confirmation of them, and a lawyer's confirmation of the authorized signatories.
• An entity supported for the first time — also attaches a financial report and a budget-versus-actual report.

Under the Ministry of Finance's support procedure, a valid bookkeeping certificate and withholding-tax certificate are also required.

The Condition That Comes First: A Proper-Management Certificate

Government support is conditional on a proper-management certificate valid from 1 January of the support year. The support committee may accept a certificate valid from as late as 31 January — but no more than once every four years. The certificate is granted on the basis of the annual reports the nonprofit files with the Registrar of Nonprofits, so a club that is late with its reports puts next year's support at risk.

For the 2025 reports, the Registrar of Nonprofits set an extension arrangement for CPAs, which ended on 1.11.2026. According to the Registrar's notice, an application filed after that date may not be handled before the start of 2027 — and the certificate will then be valid only from the date it is signed, not from 1 January.

→ Read our full article: CPA for Nonprofits — reporting to the Registrar, proper management and Section 46

Support From the Local Authority

According to the Ministry of Interior's guide for support committees, the application to the authority is filed for a single fiscal year, and usually includes:

• A proper-management certificate.
• Audited financial statements and a trial balance. An application filed between January and June attaches the audited report for the year before the previous year.
• A budget for the support year.
• Certificates from VAT and Income Tax.
• A CPA's confirmation of compliance with the ceiling on management and general expenses.

The criteria themselves vary between authorities. For example, the City of Netanya's criteria (2023) set a support ceiling of 90% of the activity's cost, a requirement of at least one year of activity, support only for competitive sports within associations recognized by the Sport Administration, and weighting by the share of athletes who are city residents. It is worth checking your authority's filing dates early — in some authorities filing is online only, and the deadline for next year closes during the current year.

After the Money Arrives: Reporting, Advances and Refunds

• Performance report to the Sport Administration — for 2027 support, a performance report must be filed by the end of the first quarter of 2028.
• Annual report under the support procedure — by 31 July of the year following the support year (late filing until 31 October): audited financial statements, a sources-and-uses report, details of management and general expenses and of the five highest earners, with a CPA's opinion. An entity that received up to ILS 100,000 files only some of the documents. An entity that does not file is treated as not having been entitled to the support.
• No double funding — no support for activity already supported, budgeted or purchased by another government ministry.
• Advances — up to 25% of the previous year's support; up to 40% if no decision has been made by 1 June; and up to 70% in a year with a continuing budget. Every advance is conditional on an undertaking to return it.
• Refunds — support for activity that was not carried out is returned, and the procedure sets increased refunds for breaching the rules.

Sources

1. Ministry of Culture and Sport — calls for applications for support in sport, and the 2027 call for sports clubs (including the 2027 support criteria). In Hebrew.
2. Ministry of Culture and Sport — support criteria in sport. In Hebrew.
3. Ministry of Interior — Director-General Circular 4/2006, procedure for local-authority support of public institutions, and the guide for support committees. In Hebrew.
4. Registrar of Nonprofits — extension arrangement for the 2025 reports and the proper-management certificate. In Hebrew.
5. Sports Betting Regulation Law; Sports Law, 5748–1988. In Hebrew.

This article is for general information and does not constitute professional advice. Support criteria change from year to year — the binding conditions should be checked in that year's criteria and call for applications.

Kind regards,
Hager-Alperowitz & Co. — Certified Public Accountants