Sport in Israel
It joined the Asian Football Confederation in 1954, but was expelled in 1974 due to political pressure from Arab and Muslim members in the context of the Arab–Israeli conflict.
Famous matches of the Israeli football team include the 3–2 win in France in the 1994 world championship qualifying games, which ended up disqualifying the French team from the championship in the United States, the defeat of Austria 5–0 in 1999 during Euro 2000 qualifications, and a 2–1 win over Argentina in a friendly match in 1998, a game played in Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem.
Successful Israeli players who also played outside Israel include Eli Ohana, Giora Spiegel, Ronny Rosenthal, Avi Cohen, Eyal Berkovich, Haim Revivo, Dudu Aouate and Yossi Benayoun.
Team Israel won the 2019 European Baseball Championship – B-Pool in early July 2019 in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, winning all five of its games.
Owing partly to Soviet immigration, it is home to the largest number of chess grandmasters of any city in the world.
At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Israel's team qualified to the final of the prestigious Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay.
Other Rio 2016 participants are Yulia Chernoy and Reuven Magnagey, who rowed together in a double scull boat and finished 9th.
The Daniel Rowing Centre in Tel Aviv is Israel's prime training facility, and the home of the national Olympic and Paralympic squad.
The sport is practiced in Tel Aviv Yarkon River, Kishon Port of Haifa and Tiberius Sea of Galilee.
In December 2012, 12-year-old Yshai Oliel of Ramla, Israel, won the 51st Junior Orange Bowl International Tennis Championship for his age group.
On August 5, 2022, Israeli-born Blessing Afrifah won the gold medal in the 200 meter race at the World Athletics U20 Championships.
The IFL has 11 teams coming from Jerusalem, Petah Tikva, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beersheba and Ramat HaSharon.
The Israel Boxing Association (IBA) operates certified gyms in cities throughout the country, with 1,800 active members from Arab villages and Ethiopian and Russian immigrant population centers.
[48] Adi Rotem of Tel Aviv is the current world champion in Thai boxing in the under-52 kilogram class.
[50] In February 2012, Grad won the WCK international title in China and was permitted to enter Malaysia, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel, on an Israeli passport.
Michael Kolganov, a Soviet (Uzbek)-born Israeli sprint canoer, has been a world champion and won an Olympic bronze in the K-1 500-meter.
Israel competed in the 1979 ICC Trophy, the inaugural edition of what is now the Cricket World Cup Qualifier, but failed to get past the first round.
They reached the plate competition of the ICC Trophy in 1990 and 1994 and in 1996 competed in their first European Championship in Denmark, finishing eighth in the eight team tournament.
[66] Notable Israeli golfers include Big Break contestant Oren Geri, Ron “Racehorse” Smith, Rami Asayag, Asher Iyasu and world blind golfing champion Zohar Sharon.
The Israeli rhythmic gymnastic group also won the bronze medal at the event final of 3 ribbons and 2 hoops at the World Championships in Montpellier.
The Association of Martial Arts in Israel is chaired by Hamad Amar, an Israeli Druze member of the Knesset.
Today there are clubs in Ra'anana, Modi'in, Jerusalem, Kfar Etzion and Tel Aviv, all of which have teams participating in the Israel National Netball League.
A wave of immigration from English speaking countries, and France, since 1967 renewed interest in the sport, particularly in areas with large English-speaking populations such as Ra'anana and Jerusalem.
The women's rugby league in Israel consists of two teams in Tel Aviv, two in Haifa and one each in Jerusalem, Galilee and Ra’anana.
[86] Kibbutz Yizre'el has been a big centre of Rugby in Israel after a group of South African Olim made a push to make the game bigger in the country.
The activities conducted by the Israel Softball Association have assisted in the social integration of immigrants countrywide, and today its members also include many native Israelis.
[92] Israeli windsurfer Gal Fridman won two Olympic medals, gold and bronze, and was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
[94] In March 2012, Israeli windsurfer Lee Korzits won the women's RS-X title in the Sailing World Championships for the third time in a row.
[102] The Maccabiah Games are an international Jewish athletic event, similar to the Olympics, held every four years in Israel.
They include Rifat (Jimmy) Turk, Najwan Ghrayib, Walid Badir, Salim Toama, Abbas Suan and more.
