Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 820 Sat. September 16, 2006  
   
Sports


UEFA lifts Israel ban


The European Football Union (UEFA) announced on Friday that it had lifted the ban on international matches being played in Israel, but only in the region of Tel Aviv.

On August 7, UEFA put a stop to all matches involving Israel or Israeli teams being played in the Jewish state due to the state of war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

But a ceasefire to end the month-long conflict was agreed on August 14 and there has been almost no resumption of hostilities since then.

UEFA ruled that games could be played in the Tel Aviv region but reserved the right to reimpose the ban if the security situation deteriorated.

Israel are currently involved in the qualifying campaign for the Euro 2008 finals in the same group as England and have a maximum six points from their first two games.