Israel FA president visits UEFA

The president of the Israel Football Association (IFA), Ofer Eini, has visited the House of European Football in Nyon.

Mr Eini, who took the helm of the Israeli association in August, held talks with UEFA President Michel Platini and senior UEFA officials which centred on developments within Israeli and European football, and the relationship between UEFA and the Israeli association.

The Israel Football Association became a full UEFA member in 1994. The country had been a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) from 1956 to 1974. In 1964, Israel won the AFC Asian Cup as hosts, and its youth teams lifted the AFC youth championship six times (1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1971 and 1972). In 1993, a statutory change approved at an Extraordinary UEFA Congress in Geneva enabled UEFA to accept a member association from a country that was not within European geographical territory, but which was not affiliated to another confederation, and this modification paved the way for Israel to join the European football family.

Israel reached the final round of the FIFA World Cup in Mexico in 1970. In the Olympic Games, they were among the quarter-finalists in 1968, also in Mexico, and got to the last eight again in Montreal in 1976. The country has produced some splendid footballers – none more so than Mordechai Spiegler, the striker who starred in the 1970 team and was chosen as Israel's Golden Player by the IFA to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee in 2004. Other Israeli players who have had prominent careers include Eli Ohana, Giora Spiegel, Ronny Rosenthal, Avi Cohen, Eyal Berkovich, Haim Revivo, Dudu Aouate and Yossi Benayoun.

The country's major clubs, such as Maccabi Haifa FC, Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC and Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC, have enjoyed some notable successes in European club competitions. The national team currently stands proudly at the top of its UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying group with a 100% record from three matches. In 2013, the Israel Football Association hosted a major European tournament for the first time when it successfully staged the UEFA European Under-21 Championship final tournament. In addition, Tel Aviv was the venue for the XXXIV Ordinary UEFA Congress in March 2010.

"It was very exciting to meet Michel Platini," said Mr Eini, who became the IFA president after previously working in the tax sector and occupying a senior role within Israel's general labour federation, the Histadrut. "We had a very good meeting and talked about the situation of football in Israel. I would like to thank UEFA's President for the support that is being given to [our] football in Israel, and for the good work that he is doing. I'm very happy to have received some good advice from him."

Mr Eini expressed gratitude for the assistance being provided by UEFA to his association under the European body's HatTrick programme in particular. "There is no doubt that the help given through HatTrick funding has strengthened football in Israel," he emphasised. "I can't imagine how football would be in Israel, and elsewhere in Europe, without UEFA's support."

In his new role, Mr Eini has set a number of objectives for the coming years, both in social and sporting terms. "Football has a social importance, especially for youth development," he explained, "and I think that football can be an instrument to help children in other aspects of life – it is a very good platform. I also think that in our region, football can build bridges between peoples, and I see this as one of my missions.

"I hope that in my term, the number of participants in football will increase, that infrastructures will improve, and more supporters will come to the stadiums to see football. I also hope that the Israeli national team will manage to reach the EURO in France, and perhaps the [2018] World Cup, but this can only be done if we invest and develop in youth footballers in Israel."

Certainly, Israel's confident start to their UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying campaign – two away wins in Cyprus and Andorra, and a fine home success against Bosnia and Herzegovina – is breeding confidence. "I was in the stadium for the last match against Bosnia," Mr Eini reflected, "and there was electricity in the air – you could feel it. More and more supporters want to come and see the national team, and people are starting to believe that perhaps we have a good chance of qualifying for the EURO. I hope that the good start that we have had will continue ..."