Israel FA celebrates 75th birthday

Honorary guests
FIFA president Joseph S. Blatter, as well as FIFA and UEFA vice-president Angel Maria Villar Llona were the honourary guests at the Gala night in Tel-Aviv. UEFA Executive Committee member Marios N. Lefkaritis (Cyprus) represented UEFA President Lennart Johansson.

'Proud history'
"I pay tribute to the work of the Israel FA over the past 75 years. You have a proud history and plenty of reasons to be optimistic," Mr Lefkaritis said in his address. "We know that there are difficulties and are aware of the problems posed by the security situation, which means that UEFA club and national team games cannot be played here at the moment. That was not an easy decision for UEFA, but we believe it is the right one at present. We will continue monitoring the situation, and when the time is right we will be ready to review the current policy.

'Springboard for dialogue'
"However, this should not detract from these anniversary celebrations," he added. "On behalf of the [UEFA] President and all my colleagues, I would like to thank you for the contribution you are making to the success of European football. I hope we can use today as a springboard to continue our dialogue and collaboration for many years to come."

'Difficult times'
IFA president Gavriel Levi urged both FIFA and UEFA representatives to assist Israel in this delicate matter: "Our country is going through difficult times, but we believe that the show of football must go on. Football is a common ground where all of us meet and play, competing in friendship, in line with the values of and spirit of this global sport.

Popular sport
"As the most popular sport in Israel football is shared by over a million people - Jews and Arabs, Christians and Druz new immigrants, and veteran Israelis - it is only common that over a million fans will enjoy their right to see their national team and leading clubs play right here, at home with the leading teams and clubs of Europe."

Spirit and friendship
Mr Levi continued: "Football is dedicated to promoting the spirit of the game, friendship and fair play. Football should bring all people together - not set them apart. The values of sport can and will prevail over hatred. This can be your contribution to better life in peace in this area."

'Beacon of hope'
Mr Blatter said: "The game allows us to overcome differences between people of different creeds and ethnicities; sometimes under the most difficult circumstances, as shown by the current composition of the national team and many of the Israeli clubs. Jews, Muslims and Christians play in the same team. This in itself is a beacon of hope for a better and more peaceful future in a region marred by violence and hatred.

'Road to peace'
"Understanding is the first step towards peace, therefore should peace be hopefully achieved here, then we could all look back and say that football played an integral part in the road to peace."