ISRAEL
Israeli FA sign up with CONMEBOL
The Israel Football Federation has signed an agreement with the South American governing body and could participate at a future Copa América.
“The IFA is Proud to join the magnificent CONMEBOL family. Together, for the good of the play and camaraderie”, is how the IFA (Israel Football Federation) officially announced their union with the South American governing body. The agreement penned by both president of the organization, Alejandro Domínguez along with IFA chief Moshe Zuares was signed during the CONMEBOL Congress in Asunción and the move initially reported by The Athletic.
“Our true friendship with Alejandro Domínguez and with the vice president of FIFA has given rise to this wonderful fruit for Israeli football. I very much hope that the Israeli team will be part of one of the big tournaments organized by CONMEBOL, maybe even the Copa América.” Zuares later stated. If Israel do play at a Copa America tournament in the future, they would join the likes of Japan and Qatar who participated recently as guests.
According to the Argentine media Infobae, at the CONMEBOL congress, Moshe Zuares also met with Claudio Tapia, president of AFA (Argentine FA) and both sides agreed to make player exchange agreements between both countries and the mutual support of the teams in future projects.
Israel has belonged to UEFA since 1994, however, it has never managed to qualify for a major tournament in this time. The Israeli FA also belonged to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and even won an Asian Cup in 1964 with Israeli clubs beginning to taking part in European club competitions in 1991 and its football association became full UEFA member in 1994.
Given the regional conflict raging between Israel and Gaza, UEFA have decreed that no continental games can be played on Israeli soil with matches involving clubs and the national team being hosted by the likes of Serbia, Cyprus and Hungary.
At present CONMEBOL has not made any statement regarding the initiative with the 2024 Copa América set to start on 20 June in the US with the subsequent competition earmarked for 2028.
At this point it’s unclear if the IFA joining CONMEBOL means the federation will leave UEFA with Europe’s governing body also yet to comment on the move.