Israel Football Association

The Israel Football Association (IFA; Template:Langx, HaHit'aḥdut leKaduregel beIsrael, Template:Lit) is the governing body of football in Israel. It organizes a variety of association football leagues where the highest level is the Israeli Premier League; as well as national cups such as the Israel State Cup, the Toto Cup, and the Israel Super Cup; also, the Israel national football team. The IFA was founded in 1948 as the Palestine (Eretz Israel) Football Association and is based in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. The Association is controversial due to its inclusion of clubs playing in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.<ref name="IB Times Article">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="HRW Article">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

History

The Palestine Football Association (PFA) or Eretz Israel Football Association, was founded in a meeting held on 14 August 1928,<ref>An Establishment Meeting for a E.I. Sportive Association Do'ar HaYom, 5 August 1928, Historical Jewish Press Template:In lang</ref><ref>In the World of Sport Davar, 31 August 1928, Historical Jewish Press Template:In lang</ref> and applied for membership of FIFA. It was admitted provisionally on 17 December 1928, affiliated on 17 May 1929 and recognised by FIFA's government on 6 July 1929. The PFA changed its name to the Israel Football Association (IFA) following the founding of the state of Israel in 1948.<ref name="fifa.com"/>

The IFA was a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) from 1954 until 1974, when it was expelled due to political pressure from Arab and Muslim members that refused to play against Israel. From then until 1992, the IFA was not affiliated with any confederation. During this period, the Israeli national teams played only in FIFA competitions and occasionally in OFC (Oceania), UEFA (Europe), and CONMEBOL (South America) qualifying tournaments.Template:Cn

In 1992, the IFA was admitted to UEFA as an associate member, becoming a full member two years later. Since 1992, Israeli clubs have played in the various UEFA club competitions, while the national teams have played in UEFA championships.

Controversy

As of 2017, the IFA included six member clubs playing in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. These are Maccabi Ariel indoor football club and Ariel municipal football club in Ariel; Beitar Givat Ze’ev Shabi in Giv'at Ze'ev, a settlement near Ramallah; Beitar Ma’aleh Adomim in Ma'ale Adumim, a settlement near East Jerusalem; Hapo’el Oranit in Oranit; and Hapo’el Jordan Valley in Tomer, a settlement built on land seized from the Palestinian village of Fasayil.<ref name="HRW Report">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Fasayil Village Profile p. 17, ARIJ</ref> A seventh club, Hapo’el Katamon Yerushalayim, plays some home games in the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim while two other clubs playing in Israel list offices in settlements near Hebron and Ramallah.<ref name="HRW Report" /> Sari Bashi, Israel and Palestine advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, argues that the IFA is in violation of FIFA rules forbidding a club of one national association from playing in the territory of another as the West Bank is covered by the Palestinian Football Association, a FIFA member. Bashi also notes that Palestinians are not allowed to enter settlements to watch games played by these clubs.<ref name="IB Times Article" /><ref name="HRW Article" />

German sportswear company Adidas previously sponsored the IFA, leading to criticism for supporting settlement clubs. More than 130 Palestinian sports clubs signed an open letter calling for Adidas to end its sponsorship of the IFA.<ref name="BDS Open Letter">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> An online petition of the BDS Movement to "Tell Adidas to end sponsorship of Israeli settlement teams" reportedly received more than 16,000 signatures.<ref name="BDS Petition">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="BDS Netherlands">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In June 2018, a Dutch BDS group delivered the open letter and petition to an Adidas office in Amsterdam.<ref name="BDS Netherlands" /> In July 2018, Adidas ended its sponsorship deal but was replaced as sponsor by Puma, another German sportswear company.<ref name="Adidas Withdrawal">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As a result, Puma has become a BDS target with critics arguing that Puma, the IFA's only international sponsor, "is involved in violations of international law and human rights."<ref name="Puma BDS Campaign">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Aya Khattab, a player on the Palestinian National Women's football team, argued that "Puma's sponsorship of the IFA, and the international legitimacy that it grants, signal to Israel's racist far-right regime that its expansion of illegal settlements by pushing Palestinian families off their ancestral lands can continue with impunity."<ref name="Khattab Article">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Mahmoud Sarsak, a Palestinian football player who was imprisoned by Israel for several years without charge or trial, accused Puma of "supporting the hate which is destroying lives and poisoning the beautiful game" of football.<ref name="Sarsak Article">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In addition to Khattab and Sarsak, more than 200 Palestinian athletes and sports clubs have called for a Puma boycott, according to an article in Mondoweiss.<ref name="Mondoweiss Puma Boycott">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In October 2019, posters calling for a boycott of Puma appeared on trains in London. The posters were removed by Transport for London, which described them as an unauthorized act of vandalism.<ref name="Train Posters">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2020, Universiti Teknologi MARA, the largest university in Malaysia, ended a sponsorship deal with Puma for their football team due to Puma's IFA sponsorship.<ref name="Malaysia Boycott">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

During the 74th FIFA Congress on 17 May 2024 in Bangkok, the Palestinian Football Association called for a vote on suspending the IFA from both UEFA and FIFA, stating that the damage to football infrastructure and deaths of Palestinian footballers during the Gaza war were enough grounds to justify the action, while other supporters referred to other suspensions such as those of Apartheid South Africa from 1961 to 1991 and Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The IFA responded stating that their football was halted and that many of their footballers have been killed since 7 October 2023 while calling for peace and a future friendly between the two countries. Gianni Infantino would respond to the PFA stating that FIFA would conduct its own legal review and that the information about a final decision would be forwarded to the FIFA Council meeting on 3 October 2024 while also calling for peace.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was later decided that while Israel would not be suspended, FIFA would investigate the claims by the PFA.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During the 75th FIFA Congress on 15 May 2025 in Asunción, Susan Shalabi, a Palestinian FA representative, brought up that FIFA was taking too long on its investigation regarding the IFA when it promised to make the investigation quick.

StandWithUs, a right-wing Israel advocacy group in the US, criticized calls for a boycott stating that "Sports are supposed to unite and bring people together, BDS drives them apart."<ref name="Israel Hayom Article">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Awards and recognition

In 1979, Yosef Yekutieli, the founder of the IFA, was awarded the Israel Prize "for dedicating his life to promoting and laying the international foundation of Israeli sports."<ref>Sport, Politics and Society in Israel: The First Fifty-five Years</ref>

See also

• List of football stadiums in Israel
• Sport in Israel

External links

• Template:Official website Template:In lang
• Israel at FIFA site
• Israel at UEFA site

Template:Football in Israel Template:Israel national football team {{#invoke:Navbox|navbox}} Template:Sports governing bodies in Israel Template:Authority control