Israel’s participation in European football competitions, including the UEFA Champions League and European Championships, is a historical anomaly stemming from political isolation in the Middle East, according to reporting.
The Israel Football Association (IFA) was a founding member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 1954. However, due to political pressure and the refusal of numerous Arab and Muslim member states to compete against the country, Israel’s tenure in the AFC became increasingly unstable.
This culminated in the IFA’s expulsion from the confederation in 1974 following a motion backed by 17 votes to 13.
After its forced exit from Asia, the IFA spent nearly two decades in what some sources describe as international exile.
During this period, the national team and clubs briefly participated in competitions hosted by various other confederations, including the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for the 1986 and 1990 World Cup qualifiers.
To secure a stable competitive environment, the IFA began negotiations with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). Israeli clubs first entered European competitions, such as the Intertoto Cup and early rounds of the Champions League, in 1991.
The Israel Football Association officially secured full membership in UEFA in 1994, twenty years after it was expelled from the AFC.
As one source notes, the move was necessitated by decades of political hostility: “It tried to join continental bodies such as the OFC (Oceania), before eventually joining UEFA (Europe).”
Another source clarifies that Israeli clubs have competed in European club tournaments since 1992.
Today, Israel is the only Levantine member of UEFA, with its membership being cited as a precedent for Australia’s later move from the OFC to the AFC.