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The Toto Cup ((ヘブライ語:גביע הטוטו), ''Gvia HaToto'') is an association football tournament that exists separately in the two highest divisions in Israel: the Premier League and Liga Leumit. From 1999 to 2009, the Toto Cup tournament was also held for the third division which was later canceled due to the cancellation of Liga Artzit. The Toto Cup is the third important competition in Israeli football after the Israeli Premier League and the Israeli State Cup and is considered as a negligible cup, and therefore the Israeli football teams are not investing in many of its games and uses the game to test the foreign players and to give a chance to the bench players and the youth players. However, the Israeli Sports Betting Council pays 1.25 million NIS for the winner, while the runner-up receive 950,000 NIS. ==History== League cups, in different formats, were played in Israel irregularly since the 1950s. In 1958, 1968 and 1973, anniversary cups, celebrating the 10th, 20th and 25th anniversary of independence of Israel, were played as a league cup competition, by Liga Leumit and Liga Alef clubs separately. In 1975–76 a League Cup competition was played, won by Hapoel Hadera (in Liga Leumit) and Maccabi Ramat Amidar (in Liga Alef), but the competition wasn't played again in the following seasons. In 1982 the IFA introduced a league cup, called Lilian Cup, after former IFA treasurer Yehuda Lilian, who died in February 1982.〔(Yehuda Lilian Dies ), Davar, 16 February 1982, Historical Jewish Press 〕 The competition, played at the beginning of the season, involved the top four teams from previous season. Its format was changed during its years of play, at times being played in league format and at times being played as a knock-out competition. The competition was last played in 1989–90. This cup is sometimes being referred as a predecessor of the Toto Cup,〔(Sinai? Ivanir? Malmilian? That's How the Toto Cup Started ) Yoni Lev Ari, 01 August 2009, ynet.co.il 〕 but these competitions are unconnected.〔(A League Cup in the English Method – From the Next Season ) Maariv, 26 January 1984, Historical Jewish Press 〕 In 1984–85 the IFA introduced a League Cup competition for the two top tiers of the Israeli football league system. The first round of the competition was played on 30 October 1984,〔(53 Tickets Were Sold for Two Matches in the "Shkhuna" ) Maariv, 31 October 1984, Historical Jewish Press 〕 while the first finals, played on 7 May 1985, was won by Maccabi Yavne (Liga Leumit) and Hapoel Ashkelon (Liga Artzit). Before the 1986–87 Season the Israeli Sports Betting Council started sponsoring the competition, which was renamed "Toto Cup", and guaranteed rewards for participation and achievements in the competition.〔(The Grants Will Interest the Teams as the Toto Cup Begins ) Ma'ariv, 5 September 1986, Historical Jewish Press 〕 In 1999–2000, following the creation of the Israeli Premier League, the competition for the two top tiers was merged, so that the competition was played by the 24 top teams, and a separate competition was introduced for the third tier, Liga Artzit. In 2004–05 the competitions were separated once again so starting from this season and up until the closure of Liga Artzit at the end of the 2008–09 season there were three league cup competitions running, for each of the three top divisions. In the 2013–14 season, the Toto Cup was not played due to a disagreement between the Israeli Sports Betting Council and the IFA following the publication of a report by a committee headed by Yaron Zelekha which was set up to examine the way football in Israel was managed. The IFA and the Israeli Sports Betting Council reached an agreement in October 2013, which confirmed the cancellation of the 2013–14 competitions.〔(The FA and the Toto Agreed on the terms of the marketing of the Premier League ) Itzik Itzchaki, 20 October 2013, walla.co.il 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Toto Cup」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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