The Israeli culture and sport minister Miri Regev has announced a review of the country’s national team following a poor World Cup qualifying campaign and slipping to the 98th spot, behind their enemy Palestine. The government wants an enquiry into the state of affairs of football and a review after the recent poor run.
Israel lost six games out of 10 in the group, finishing behind Albania. The government seeks a review that will examine the game from the grassroots up to professional level. The Jerusalem Post claims a management consultancy firm, Tefen, has been tasked with the enquiry which is expected to be submitted mid next year.
Regev and the chair of the country’s football association (IFA) Ofer Eini had earlier promised to examine the cause of failures at the national football level but it never quite took off. The new shortcomings have prompted the enquiry to finally happen. Since 1970, the country has not made any major tournament. They have had several players play at the highest level like Tal Veb Haim who played for Bolton Wanderers and Chelsea, and Yossi Bernayoun that featured for Liverpool.
The officials at IFA are not happy with the enquiry going public without first consulting with them first. She insists that she had every right to do so outrightly, as Israel had maintained their string of failures.
“Soccer receives the biggest budget of all sports, but unfortunately the national team hasn’t qualified for a major tournament in 47 years. Due to the current crisis, which can be seen in resounding failure in the latest campaign and the drop in the FIFA rankings, there is an immediate need to examine the reasons for failure.”
Palestine’s highest ranking in history sparked outrage as they were above Israel.
