"Hugged the millionaire boss": Meeting between Alona Barkat and the legionnaire

Hapoel Be'er Sheva has moved its European matches to Bucharest and is aiming for a historic first qualification for the Champions League. Ahead of the playoff match against Sabah, Romanian media highlighted Ofri Arad, the Israeli player for Steaua Bucharest, who attended the game at the Rapid stadium.

A GSP photographer captured Arad hugging Alona Barkat and speaking with her for several minutes. The website reported: "The Steaua player appeared in the VIP box at Giulesti and hugged the millionaire boss."

The site noted that the fortune of the 58-year-old Barkat is estimated at approximately 150 million dollars and described how she became the first woman to own a football team in Israel. "In 1996, Barkat left Israel and moved to Silicon Valley in the United States. She invested in companies such as Check Point, BackWeb, eToro, and Intel. In 2004, she returned to Israel and was involved for a period with Maccabi Tel Aviv. Since the summer of 2007, she has owned Hapoel Be'er Sheva, which she transformed into one of the top teams in the Israeli Premier League."

Under her leadership, Hapoel Be'er Sheva won four Israeli championships in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2026. In addition, the team won three cups in 2020, 2022, and 2025, as well as four Champion of Champions titles in 2017, 2018, 2023, and 2026.