EXCLUSIVE: Israel on brink of expulsion from 2004 European soccer finals

Jerusalem Post ^ | Feb. 19, 2003 | OFER RONEN-ABELS

[yonif]

Israel's national soccer team are on the brink of expulsion from the Euro 2004 qualifying campaign, according to a senior UEFA official, The Jerusalem Post learned on Wednesday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonimity, said that the IFA's inability to provide the required guarantees for staging the home matches in Palermo in April, has led UEFA to consider throwing Israel out of the competition.

"UEFA has been discussing the matter and its consequences during the last couple of days, and has even notified the IFA of what may happen," the source said.

"Should the IFA fail to submit the necessary guarantees by Thursday morning, Israel may well find that it has been expelled from the tournament," the source added.

Israel had been looking far and wide for a venue to host its upcoming qualifiers against France and Cyprus in their Euro 2004 qualifiers set for April 2nd and April 30th, and only the intervention of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Israel's foreign minister Binyamin Netanyahu led to an agreement in principle that the matches in question could be hosted in the Sicilian capital.

The IFA, which has been desperately trying to complete the deal with the Italian authorities, is still waiting for the final documentation and guarantees. Repeated UEFA deadlines which had been set before the IFA and the Italians to supply the needed guarantees have not been met.

A UEFA spokesperson confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that:"Palermo has yet to be confirmed by UEFA as Israel's home venue for the qualifying campaign."

An official at the IFA confirmed that they were made aware of the situation but refused to comment any further on the matter.

[ChicagoRepublican]

There are hundreds of thousands of Israeli's who are die-hard fans of the sport of soccer. I hope the fags calling soccer gay say it in front of IDF soldiers playing soccer games while on short breaks from protecting Israel.

[yonif]

I was waiting for someone to say that.

[Clemenza]

Its those queer looking outfits soccer boys wear.

I'm an AMERICAN. In AMERICA, soccer is a kiddy game like tiddly winks or Chutes and Ladders.

[retiredtexan]

WITH EVERTHING ELSE, THIS A WHITE SPOT ON A PIMPLE.

[ChicagoRepublican]

Well in ISRAEL its not. This isn't about AMERICA getting kicked out. How hard is that for you to understand?

[FITZ]

By the way, France unfortunately has one of the top 3 soccer teams in the world.

You just defeated your own argument. Soccer is for wimps.

[Straight Vermonter]

My son calls it communist kickball.

[FITZ]

I don't care. Soccer is gay. End of story.

It might not be exactly gay ---but you can tell just from the soccer moms here who make sure their little sons play soccer instead of masculine sports because they "don't want them getting hurt".

[FITZ]

I'm an AMERICAN. In AMERICA, soccer is a kiddy game like tiddly winks or Chutes and Ladders.

If the Israelis get kicked out of the soccer finals, maybe they could turn to football, they might find they like it better.

[Tolik]

 

 

Fri 21 Feb 2003

24 hrs a day - The Latest SoccerNews

:: 2003-02-21 16:15:38 ::

Palermo to host Israel-France Euro 2004 qualifier

GENEVA, Feb 21 (AFP) © 2003 AFP

The Sicilian capital Palermo will host Israel's Euro 2004 qualifying match against European champions France on April 2, European football's governing body UEFA confirmed on Friday.
The announcement was made after UEFA received guarantees from the Israeli federation and Italian authorities concerning security measures.
Israel cannot host any match on home ground because of security fears in the Middle East.
Israel take on France in Group 1 qualifiers on April 2 before coming up against Cyprus on April 30, provisionally scheduled at the same venue.
For the moment however guarantees on security measures have only been confirmed for the Israel versus France fixture.
 

 

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