Football Association Reportedly Plans Meeting on Arab Players in Israel Squad

The Israel Football Association reportedly plans an emergency meeting of its professional committee to examine Arab players’ participation in the national team. The planned discussion, disclosed on November 13, is expected in the coming weeks, after the current international window, as the team prepares to face Kosovo in Pristina. Zahi Ahmed of Hapoel Be’er Sheva was called up on Monday night, leaving one Arab player in the squad. Before his addition, the squad had none. Three Arab players who took part in the previous international window did not travel this time, with different individual circumstances reported for their absences. Ahmed Abu al-Am, the federation board member responsible for integrating Arab society, said Arab players faced threats and abuse from elsewhere in the Arab world. He described football as a force bringing people together and said the federation would meet after the international window to find “the formula that will allow them to feel comfortable coming at times like these.” Bassam Suleiman serves as the federation’s acting chairman. On November 6, Anan Khalaili was reported to have received hostile demands through social media and his phone to stop representing Israel. He told federation personnel he did not intend to leave the national team. The current report says he was released from this window’s squad with an injury explanation, while also describing a request for relief because of his workload.