Liverpool don't want to play in Israel.
From the BBC:Uefa will announce on 7 August whether Liverpool have to travel to Israel for their Champions League tie with Maccabi Haifa on 22 or 23 August.
European football's governing body said on Monday that Israel could not host Uefa Cup second qualifying round games because of its conflict with Lebanon.
The matches will be moved to a neutral country, with Cyprus a likely venue.
Reds boss Rafael Benitez has said it is 'totally unacceptable' to go to Israel given the current security situation.
Uefa's decision to move Uefa Cup games will affect Hapoel Tel Aviv's home tie against NK Domzale of Slovenia on 8 August.
Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv's home match with Bulgaria's Lokomotiv Sofia on 10 August will also be moved to a neutral venue.
As well as Liverpool's match with Maccabi Haifa, Beitar Jerusalem's Uefa Cup second qualifying round clash on 24 August with Dinamo Bucharest could be affected.
This is a very sad state of affairs indeed for Israeli football and Israeli football fans. I cant see any reason why Liverpool cant play the match in Israel, even if there are concerns that Tel Aviv may be within range of Hezbollah rockets from Iran - why not play the match in the South? Interesting too is the mention of Israel's conflict with Lebanon, surely they are fighting the terrorist group Hezbollah, an illegal militant group in Lebanon that is funded by Iran and Syria and a danger to Lebanon's fragile democracy.
Rather than being "totally unacceptable" to travel to Israel at this time it should be considered to be "totally important". The football mad Israeli civilian society is under attack from rockets fired randomly into residential areas in the North. Playing the match in the country would be a an important sign of solidarity. Liverpool FC, who themselves have received their fair share of
solidarity in the past, obviously dont share this opinion. Moving the match to Cyprus would be a blow to the Israeli clubs, Israeli football, Israeli fans and the civilian society - it would be a victory for the terrorists. The Israeli FA has reacted angrily:
Israeli FA chairman Iche Menahem reacted angrily to the news and said the IFA would "respond severely and will not let the decision pass unchallenged".
"I would like Uefa to take this decision while they are here in Israel and not from their offices in Switzerland," Menahem said in a statement.
UEFA will make their decison next week but I doubt from their past form that they are likely to back the IFA, both UEFA and FIFA just other international bodies that appease the culprits and punish the victims. Israel is by far the best international team in the Middle East but has to try to qualify in the European leagues for the World Cup as many of its regional opponents are effectively at war with it by refusing to accept its existence. Even the countries that do accept it grudgingly cannot guarantee the safety of the team and fans. FIFA, rather than punishing the surrounding nations for not playing another FIFA member, dumped Israel into the European group of UEFA. This "compromise" may mean that Israel has a tougher time qualifying for the World Cup finals but at least means that Israeli teams have the chance of playing in the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. With the start of the Intifada and the brutal anti-Semitic murder attacks on the Israeli civilian population by suicide attacks the rights for Israeli teams to play home matches was taken away. After the security fence succesfully managed to keep out the threat, international football returned to Israel but only in a restricted form.
International football returned to Israel in April 2004 after a 25-month ban due to the worsening security situation in the country.
Matches can only be played in the Tel Aviv area.
Between March 2002 and April 2004 Israeli clubs and teams were forced to host their opponents at a number of European venues including Cyprus, Turkey, Italy and Bulgaria.
Of course Liverpool FC have a responsibility to their fans and their team. Of course they want to win the match and play it safely - They are a football team, a business and not a political body. Their attempts to move the match out of Israel is however unacceptable. If UEFA is forcing Israel to play in Tel Aviv and Tel Aviv may be within rocket range then move the match to the South and change the UEFA ruling on Tel Aviv to reflect the current security situation. It is UEFA's responsibility to promote football in Israel - it's time they took this seriously rather than punishing the victims. Clubs should not be able to exploit the current situation for their own advantage and take away the home advantage for clubs in Israel.
Israel should not be "walking alone" but I suspect UEFA's decision on the 7th will mean they will be forced to play matches again in neutral venues. Hezbollah Terror 1 - Israel 0 due to a bad refereeing decision is the most likely result of this UEFA enquiry. So come on UEFA, surprise me.
