| UEFA | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 14 August 1928; 97 years ago (1928-08-14)(as the Football Association of Palestine) |
| Headquarters | Ramat Gan,Tel Aviv District, Israel |
| FIFA affiliation | 17 October 1929; 96 years ago (1929-10-17) |
| UEFA affiliation | 1991; 35 years ago (1991) |
| Chairman | Moshe Zuares |
| Website | www |
TheIsraelFootball Association (IFA;Hebrew:ההתאחדות לכדורגל בישראלHaHiṯəʼaḥăḏūṯ ləKaddūreḡel bəYiśrāʼēl,lit. 'The Association of Football in Israel') is the governing body offootball in Israel. It organizes a variety of association football leagues where the highest level is theIsraeli Premier League; as well as national cups such as theIsrael State Cup, theToto Cup, and theIsrael Super Cup; also, theIsrael national football team. The IFA was originally founded in 1928, inMandatory Palestine, and is based inRamat Gan.
ThePalestine Football Association, was founded in a meeting held on 14 August 1928,[1][2] and applied for membership ofFIFA. It was admitted provisionally on 17 December 1928, affiliated on 17 May 1929 and recognised by FIFA's government on 6 July 1929. The FAP changed its name to the Israel Football Association (IFA) following the founding of the state of Israel in 1948.[3]
The IFA was a member of theAsian Football Confederation (AFC) from 1954 until 1974, when it wasexpelled due to political pressure from Arab and Muslim members thatrefused to play against Israel. From then until 1992, the IFA was not affiliated with any confederation. During this period, the Israeli national teams played only in FIFA competitions and occasionally inOFC (Oceania),UEFA (Europe), andCONMEBOL (South America) qualifying tournaments.[citation needed]
In 1992, the IFA was admitted to UEFA as an associate member, becoming a full member two years later. Since 1992, Israeli clubs have played in the various UEFA club competitions, while the national teams have played in UEFA championships.
As of 2017, the IFA included six member clubs playing inIsraeli settlements in the West Bank. These are Maccabi Ariel indoor football club and Ariel municipal football club inAriel; Beitar Givat Ze’ev Shabi inGiv'at Ze'ev, a settlement nearRamallah; Beitar Ma’aleh Adomim inMa'ale Adumim, a settlement nearEast Jerusalem; Hapo’el Oranit inOranit; and Hapo’el Jordan Valley inTomer, a settlement built on land seized from the Palestinian village ofFasayil.[4][5] A seventh club, Hapo’el Katamon Yerushalayim, plays some home games in the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim while two other clubs playing in Israel list offices in settlements nearHebron and Ramallah.[4] Sari Bashi, Israel and Palestine advocacy director forHuman Rights Watch, argues that the IFA is in violation of FIFA rules forbidding a club of one national association from playing in the territory of another as the West Bank is covered by thePalestinian Football Association, a FIFA member. Bashi also notes that Palestinians are not allowed to enter settlements to watch games played by these clubs.[6][7]
German sportswear companyAdidas previously sponsored the IFA, leading to criticism for supporting settlement clubs. More than 130 Palestinian sports clubs signed an open letter calling for Adidas to end its sponsorship of the IFA.[8] An online petition of theBDS Movement to "Tell Adidas to end sponsorship of Israeli settlement teams" reportedly received more than 16,000 signatures.[9][10] In June 2018, a Dutch BDS group delivered the open letter and petition to an Adidas office inAmsterdam.[10] In July 2018, Adidas ended its sponsorship deal but was replaced as sponsor byPuma, another German sportswear company.[11] As a result, Puma has become a BDS target with critics arguing that Puma, the IFA's only international sponsor, "is involved in violations of international law and human rights."[12] Aya Khattab, a player on the Palestinian National Women's football team, argued that "Puma's sponsorship of the IFA, and the international legitimacy that it grants, signal to Israel's racist far-right regime that its expansion of illegal settlements by pushing Palestinian families off their ancestral lands can continue with impunity."[13]Mahmoud Sarsak, a Palestinian football player who was imprisoned by Israel for several years without charge or trial, accused Puma of "supporting the hate which is destroying lives and poisoning the beautiful game" of football.[14] In addition to Khattab and Sarsak, more than 200 Palestinian athletes and sports clubs have called for a Puma boycott, according to an article inMondoweiss.[15] In October 2019, posters calling for a boycott of Puma appeared on trains in London. The posters were removed byTransport for London, which described them as an unauthorized act of vandalism.[16] In 2020,Universiti Teknologi MARA, the largest university inMalaysia, ended a sponsorship deal with Puma for their football team due to Puma's IFA sponsorship.[17]
During the 74thFIFA Congress on 17 May 2024 inBangkok, thePalestinian Football Association called for a vote on suspending the IFA from both UEFA and FIFA, stating that the damage to football infrastructure and deaths of Palestinian footballers during theGaza war were enough grounds to justify the action, while other supporters referred to other suspensions such as those ofApartheidSouth Africa from 1961 to 1991 andRussia following theRussian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The IFA responded stating that their football was halted and that many of their footballers have been killed since7 October 2023 while calling for peace and a future friendly between the two countries.Gianni Infantino would respond to the PFA stating that FIFA would conduct its own legal review and that the information about a final decision would be forwarded to the FIFA Council meeting on 3 October 2024 while also calling for peace.[18][19] It was later decided that while Israel would not be suspended, FIFA would investigate the claims by the PFA.[20] During the 75th FIFA Congress on 15 May 2025 inAsunción, Susan Shalabi, a Palestinian FA representative, brought up that FIFA was taking too long on its investigation regarding the IFA when it promised to make the investigation quick.
StandWithUs, a right-wing Israel advocacy group in the US, criticized calls for a boycott stating that "Sports are supposed to unite and bring people together, BDS drives them apart."[21]
In 1979,Yosef Yekutieli, the founder of the IFA, was awarded theIsrael Prize "for dedicating his life to promoting and laying the international foundation of Israeli sports."[22]
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