An English club could find itself travelling to Israel for a Champions League fixture this year, with Maccabi Haifa vying for a place in the group stage.
Haifa takes on Serbian club FK Crvena zvezda (Red Star Belgrade in English) in the final qualifying round, with the first leg on Wednesday.
Some fans question why Israeli teams play in the Champions League (and indeed why Israel play in the Euros) since Israel is not in Europe – here’s why Israel is a part of Uefa.
Why is Israel in Uefa?
Israel’s footballing history is long and complex.
It started out as a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), beginning to compete in 1954.
However, many Muslim countries refused to play against Israel due to the Arab League’s boycotting of the country.
This led to a situation where Israel technically qualified for the 1958 World Cup without actually kicking a ball. Fifa wanted to avoid this sutation, so set up a play-off against Wales, which Israel lost.
Israel hosted and won the 1964 AFC Asian Cup – its only international honour – although 11 of the 16 nations set to compete withdrew from the tournament.
It qualified for the 1970 World Cup but finished bottom of a group which also included Italy, Uruguay and Sweden.
Israel was excluded from AFC competitions in 1974 as the result of a proposal submitted by Kuwait, which passed 17 to 13 in a vote of members (with six abstentions).
It started to play in European tournaments in the early 80s, including taking part in the European 1982 World Cup qualifiers, but then competed in the Oceania groups for 1986 and 1990.
Israeli clubs began taking part in European club competitions in 1991, and in 1994 it was made a member of Uefa.
It has competed in European tournaments ever since, while its club teams compete in the Champions League and Europa League.
Seven Israeli clubs have taken part in the Champions League, with Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
This article was ameneded on 18 August
FAQs
In 1994, Israel was officially accepted into the UEFA and the Israeli Premier League and its clubs were made members of UEFA anc participate in the UEFA Champions League. Thus, Israel became a part of Europe for football and also participate in the World Cup Qualifiers for Europe.
Can Israeli clubs play in Champions League? ›
Since 1992, Israeli clubs have taken part in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Intertoto Cup.
Why is Israel included in European Games? ›
Traditionally, sports teams from Armenia, Georgia, and Israel – all geographically outside Europe – are included in European competitions for cultural and political reasons, while trans-continental countries Azerbaijan, Russia, and Turkey (which straddle Europe and Asia), and technically Iceland (which sits on a ...
Is Israel part of UEFA or AFC? ›
The Israeli FA has been a full member of UEFA since 1994, but it started out as a founder member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 1948, even hosting -- and winning -- the Asian Cup in 1964.
Why was Israel banned from the AFC? ›
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.
Why is Israel allowed to compete in Eurovision? ›
The EBU allowed Israel to participate since the country's broadcaster was already one of its members. Israel showed strong interest in the competition from the very beginning and it paid off very soon; they won for the first time in Paris in 1978 with the song A-Ba-Ni-Bi performed by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta.
Why are Israel and Kazakhstan in UEFA? ›
Countries which had been members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) were also admitted to the European football association, such as Israel (because it had been banned from the AFC group in 1974) and Kazakhstan.
Does the Arab League support Israel? ›
Today, 15 of the 22 members of the Arab League — Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen — do not recognise or have diplomatic relations with Israel; with the exceptions being Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Sudan, ...
What sports is Israel good at? ›
Chess. Chess is a leading sport in Israel. There are many Israeli grandmasters and Israeli chess players have won a number of youth world championships. Israel stages an annual international championship and hosted the World Team Chess Championship in 2005.
Why is Israel so powerful? ›
The prosperity of Israel's advanced economy allows the country to have a sophisticated welfare state, a powerful modern military said to possess a nuclear-weapons capability with a full nuclear triad, modern infrastructure rivaling many Western countries, and a high-technology sector competitively on par with Silicon ...
It became eligible after becoming part of the European Broadcasting Union, which is behind the event. The rule also allows countries like Azerbaijan, who hosted in 2012, and Georgia to compete. EBU has defended its decision to allow Israel to compete and the country being different from Russia who invaded Ukraine.
Does Israel consider itself European? ›
Israel is geographically located in Southwest Asia. Therefore, by definition, people who are from or reside in Israel are Asian people.
Why is an Israeli team in Champions League? ›
Finally, it was admitted to UEFA as an associate member in 1992 and as a full member in 1994, therefore their teams compete as part of Europe in all international competitions.
Can Israeli teams play in Europe? ›
Israel has been a member of European soccer body UEFA for 30 years and stopped playing in Asian competitions in the 1970s for security reasons. If Israel qualifies for this summer's Euro 2024 in Germany, the team will play in a group against Romania in Munich, Slovakia in Duesseldorf and Belgium in Stuttgart.
Which Arab League countries recognize Israel? ›
After several Arab-Israeli wars, Egypt was the first Arab state to recognize Israel diplomatically in 1979 with the signing of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. It was followed by Jordan with the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty in 1994. In 2020, four more Arab states (the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan) normalized relations.
Does the Arab League recognize Israel? ›
28 UN member states do not recognize Israel: 15 members of the Arab League (Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen); ten non-Arab members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Indonesia, ...
Will Israel be in euros in 2024? ›
Israel eliminated from Euro 2024 qualifying after heavy defeat to Iceland; Ukraine advances after stunning late comeback. Albert Guðmundsson celebrates after scoring for Iceland. Israel's hopes of reaching Euro 2024 are over after the team suffered a heavy 4-1 defeat to Iceland in Thursday's playoff semifinal.
