イスラエルサッカー協会(IFA、ヘブライ語: ההתאחדות לכדורגל בישראל HaHiṯəʼaḥăḏūṯ ləKaddūreḡel bəYiśrāʼēl、直訳: 「イスラエルのサッカー協会」 )は、イスラエルのサッカーを統括する団体です。最高レベルのイスラエルプレミアリーグをはじめとする様々なサッカーリーグ、イスラエル州カップ、トトカップ、イスラエルスーパーカップなどの国内カップ、そしてイスラエル代表サッカーチームを組織しています。IFAはもともと1928年に委任統治領パレスチナで設立され、ラマト・ガンに本部を置いています。
パレスチナサッカー協会は、1928年8月14日の会議で設立され、[ 1 ] [ 2 ] FIFAへの加盟を申請した。1928年12月17日に暫定的に承認され、1929年5月17日に加盟、1929年7月6日にFIFA政府によって承認された。FAPは、1948年のイスラエル建国に伴い、イスラエルサッカー協会(IFA)に名称を変更した。[ 3 ]
IFAはアジアサッカー連盟(AFC)のメンバーであり、1954年から1974年までのAFCの黎明期に高いレベルで競い合っていたが、アラブ諸国やイスラム諸国の加盟国がイスラエルとの対戦を拒否したため、決議案を可決するのに十分な票数に達しなかったにもかかわらず、政治的圧力により除名された。 [ 4 ]それ以降1992年まで、IFAはどの連盟にも加盟していなかった。この期間、イスラエル代表チームはFIFAの大会のみに出場し、時折OFC(オセアニア)、UEFA(ヨーロッパ)、CONMEBOL(南米)のワールドカップ予選トーナメントにも出場した。[ 5 ]
1992年、イスラエルサッカー協会(IFA)はUEFAに準会員として加盟し、2年後には正会員となった。1992年以降、イスラエルのクラブチームは様々なUEFAクラブ大会に出場し、代表チームはUEFA選手権に出場している。
As of 2017, the IFA included six member clubs playing in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. These are Maccabi Ariel indoor football club and Ariel municipal football club in Ariel; Beitar Givat Ze’ev Shabi in Giv'at Ze'ev, a settlement near Ramallah; Beitar Ma’aleh Adomim in Ma'ale Adumim, a settlement near East Jerusalem; Hapo’el Oranit in Oranit; and Hapo’el Jordan Valley in Tomer, a settlement built on land seized from the Palestinian village of Fasayil.[6][7] A seventh club, Hapo’el Katamon Yerushalayim, plays some home games in the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim while two other clubs playing in Israel list offices in settlements near Hebron and Ramallah.[6] Sari Bashi, Israel and Palestine advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, argues that the IFA is in violation of FIFA rules forbidding a club of one national association from playing in the territory of another as the West Bank is covered by the Palestinian Football Association, a FIFA member. Bashi also notes that Palestinians are not allowed to enter settlements to watch games played by these clubs.[8][9]
German sportswear company Adidas previously sponsored the IFA, leading to criticism for supporting settlement clubs. More than 130 Palestinian sports clubs signed an open letter calling for Adidas to end its sponsorship of the IFA.[10] An online petition of the BDS Movement to "Tell Adidas to end sponsorship of Israeli settlement teams" reportedly received more than 16,000 signatures.[11][12] In June 2018, a Dutch BDS group delivered the open letter and petition to an Adidas office in Amsterdam.[12] In July 2018, Adidas ended its sponsorship deal but was replaced as sponsor by Puma, another German sportswear company.[13] As a result, Puma has become a BDS target with critics arguing that Puma, the IFA's only international sponsor, "is involved in violations of international law and human rights."[14] Aya Khattab, a player on the Palestinian National Women's football team, argued that "Puma's sponsorship of the IFA, and the international legitimacy that it grants, signal to Israel's racist far-right regime that its expansion of illegal settlements by pushing Palestinian families off their ancestral lands can continue with impunity."[15]Mahmoud Sarsak, a Palestinian football player who was imprisoned by Israel for several years without charge or trial, accused Puma of "supporting the hate which is destroying lives and poisoning the beautiful game" of football.[16] In addition to Khattab and Sarsak, more than 200 Palestinian athletes and sports clubs have called for a Puma boycott, according to an article in Mondoweiss.[17] In October 2019, posters calling for a boycott of Puma appeared on trains in London. The posters were removed by Transport for London, which described them as an unauthorized act of vandalism.[18] In 2020, Universiti Teknologi MARA, the largest university in Malaysia, ended a sponsorship deal with Puma for their football team due to Puma's IFA sponsorship.[19]
During the 74th FIFA Congress on 17 May 2024 in Bangkok, the Palestinian Football Association called for a vote on suspending the IFA from both UEFA and FIFA, stating that the damage to football infrastructure and deaths of Palestinian footballers during the Gaza war were enough grounds to justify the action, while other supporters referred to other suspensions such as those of ApartheidSouth Africa from 1961 to 1991 and Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The IFA responded stating that their football was halted and that many of their footballers have been killed since 7 October 2023 while calling for peace and a future friendly between the two countries. Gianni Infantino would respond to the PFA stating that FIFA would conduct its own legal review and that the information about a final decision would be forwarded to the FIFA Council meeting on 3 October 2024 while also calling for peace.[20][21] It was later decided that while Israel would not be suspended, FIFA would investigate the claims by the PFA.[22] During the 75th FIFA Congress on 15 May 2025 in Asunción, Susan Shalabi, a Palestinian FA representative, brought up that FIFA was taking too long on its investigation regarding the IFA when it promised to make the investigation quick. On 19 March 2026, the IFA was sanctioned by FIFA due to "offensive behaviour, violations of the principles of fair play, and discrimination and racist abuse" and was forced to pay a fine to the amount of CHF 150,000 as well as implement a prevention plan including the display of a significant and highly visible banner with the words "Football Unites the World – No to Discrimination" alongside the Israel Football Association’s logo during the next three matches at home from the sanction date as well as investing one-third of the fine towards the implementation of a comprehensive plan to ensure action against discrimination.[23] The complaints from the PFA of FIFA taking too long on its investigation regarding the IFA were reiterated during the 76th FIFA Congress on 30 April 2026 in Vancouver.
StandWithUs, a right-wing Israel advocacy group in the US, criticized calls for a boycott stating that "Sports are supposed to unite and bring people together, BDS drives them apart."[24]
In 1979, Yosef Yekutieli, the founder of the IFA, was awarded the Israel Prize "for dedicating his life to promoting and laying the international foundation of Israeli sports."[25]