Israel football ban lifted

JERUSALEM, Sep 15: European soccer's governing body today lifted a ban on home matches in Israel a month after the end of the war with Hizbollah guerrillas.

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.

Nearly 1,200 people were killed in Lebanon and more than 150 Israelis were killed in the 34-day conflict which was sparked after Hizbollah abducted two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12. Fighting ended in a ceasefire August 14.

''UEFA has today (Friday) informed the Israeli FA of its decision to lift the ban on European matches taking place in Israel with immediate effect,'' a statement on the UEFA Web site said.

''This follows the decision to relocate all matches to neutral territory made on 7 August 2006 due to the conflict in the area.'' Matches can only be played in the Tel Aviv area. Israel will host their next Euro 2008 home qualifier in November against Croatia as scheduled at the city's National Stadium.

Israel are second in Group E behind England on goal difference after opening their campaign earlier this month with a 1-0 away win over Estonia and a 4-1 ''home'' win over group minnows Andorra in a match played in the Netherlands.

Group E also comprises Croatia, Russia and Macedonia.

''I'm happy that we will again host matches in Israel, it's important for sport, for soccer, for each one of us,'' Israeli FA chairman Iche Menahem said.

''From both a soccer and a financial aspect, we can breathe a sigh of relief...the ban caused huge added expense of millions of shekels because of all the logistics involved (in setting up a home base abroad).'' Hapoel Tel Aviv will also benefit, as they can host their UEFA Cup first-round second leg against Chernomorets Odessa of Ukraine at the Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv on Sept. 28. They won yesterday's away leg 1-0.

Israel's other UEFA Cup hope, Maccabi Haifa, hosted their first-round home leg against Litex Lovech of Bulgaria in the Netherlands yesterday, drawing 1-1.

Reuters