A new initiative by Minister of Culture and Sport Miri Regev will enable sportsmen in difficult financial straits to receive aid from a special fund to be established for them.
Regev's decision comes in the wake of an Education Committee discussion of the status of veteran sportsmen and those who have recently retired.
During the discussion the idea of setting up a special fund was suggested and the director of the Ministry for Culture and Sport, Yossi Sharabi, said that he would establish guidelines which would ensure that sportsmen would be helped discreetly just as a similar Culture ministry fund helps artists and performers in financial distress.
Sharabi informed Regev of the results of the meeting and she adopted the idea, stating that "we must revere the sportsman who proudly represent Israel and make the utmost efforts to enable them to live their lives with dignity."