Israeli Football Association
| UEFA | |
|---|---|
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| Founded | 18 July 1928 |
| FIFA affiliation | 17 May 1929 |
| UEFA affiliation | 1994 |
| President | Ofer Eini |
| Website | football.org.il |
The Israel Football Association (Hebrew: ההתאחדות לכדורגל בישראל, HaHit'aḥdut leKaduregel beIsrael- lit. 'The Association of Football in Israel), also known as IFA, is the governing body of football in Israel. It organizes a variant of association football leagues, cups, and the national teams. The association is based in Ramat Gan. IFA was founded in 1928 as the Palestine Football Association.
The Palestine Football Association (PFA) was founded in July 1928 under the British Mandate, and applied for membership in the FIFA. They were admitted provisionally on 17 December 1928, affiliated on 17 May 1929 and recognised by FIFA's government on 6 July 1929 as the Palestine Football Association, then its name was officially changed to the Israel Football Association (IFA) after the founding of the state of Israel in 1948.
In 1954, the Israel Football Association was admitted to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). In 1974, the Israel Football Association was expelled from the AFC due to political pressure from Arab and Muslim members that refused to play against Israel. In the late 1970s and 1980s, the Israel Football Association was not affiliated with any confederation. During this period, the Israeli national teams were only playing in FIFA competitions occasionally in OFC, UEFA and CONMEBOL qualifying tournaments.
In 1992, the IFA was admitted to UEFA as an associate member, and 2 years later as a full member. Since 1992, Israeli clubs have been playing in the various UEFA club competitions and the Israeli national teams play in UEFA championships.
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."
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