Last update - 00:00 17/09/2006
UEFA lifts home-match ban
By Haaretz Correspondent and Agencies, By Moshe Boker
European soccer's governing body UEFA on Friday lifted a ban on home matches in Israel a month after the end of the Lebanon war.
The ban was imposed early last month, forcing all Israeli home fixtures under UEFA's jurisdiction to be played at other venues in European countries.
"UEFA has today informed the Israeli Football Association of its decision to lift the ban on European matches taking place in Israel with immediate effect. This follows the decision to relocate all matches to neutral territory made on 7 August 2006 due to the conflict in the area," a statement on the UEFA Web site said.
"I'm delighted," IFA chair Itche Menahem on hearing of the decision. "In the past it took us three years to get soccer back to Israel. This time, it only took us a month."
Matches can only be played in the Tel Aviv area in accordance with a previous UEFA decision from 2004. The return of the matches will allow Israel to host its next Euro 2008 home qualifier set for November against Croatia at the National Stadium in Ramat Gan after it was forced to host its previous home game against Andorra in the Netherlands.
Israel is in Group B with England, Russia, Macedonia and Estonia as well as Andorra and Croatia.
Hapoel Tel Aviv also benefits from the lifting of the ban as it will be able to host its UEFA Cup first-round second leg tie against Chernomorets Odessa of Ukraine at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv on September 28. Hapoel won last week's away leg 1-0.
The decision comes too late, however, for Israel's other UEFA Cup representative, Maccabi Haifa, which hosted its first-round home leg against Litex Lovech of Bulgaria in the Netherlands last week. Haifa goes into the away leg with a 1-1 scoreline.
Speaking off the record, IFA officials said that were it not for comments by Sport Minister Ophir Pines, who charged UEFA officials of being anti-Semitic, the decision would have been taken in time for Haifa to have hosted the match in Israel.