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THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) said Thursday that it had postponed its decision on a Palestinian proposal to suspend Israel from international soccer over the country’s ongoing war against the Hamas terror group.
FIFA’s postponement cleared the way for the Israeli men’s national team to play at the Paris Olympics.
Soccer’s world governing body had been set to make a decision Saturday at an extraordinary council meeting after asking for an independent legal assessment of the Palestinian proposal two months ago.
That decision would have come just four days before the start of the Olympic soccer tournament, where Israel has been drawn in a group with Japan, Mali and Paraguay, and is set to play Mali on July 24.
FIFA said it pushed back the timeline because “more time is needed to conclude this process with due care and completeness” — meaning a decision is now set to come after the Olympics have finished.
Separately, the Israel Football Association (IFA) announced Thursday that Daniel Peretz, the goalkeeper for Israel’s national team, will miss the Paris Olympics after suffering a muscle tendon injury in his thigh.
Peretz will be out for several weeks and has returned to Munich and his team there, Bayern Munich, said.
“The timing of the injury and the process of recovery demand that I not leave room for doubt, even though I believed things would sort themselves out by some miracle,” he added.
Peretz said he has full faith in his teammates, adding, “I’ll be their biggest fan.”
The 24-year-old joined Bayern last year from Maccabi Tel Aviv and has played twice for the club.
He was one of only three players aged over 23 in Israel’s Olympic squad, alongside Sean Goldberg and Omri Gandelman.
“I’m sorry for Daniel that he’ll be missing the Olympics. I hope he recovers quickly, and I’m sure he’ll have [other] great moments in the blue and white uniform,” said Guy Luzon, the coach of Israel’s national team.
“We will all have to improve and keep moving,” Luzon said, adding, “I have full confidence in the team, and certainly in the goalkeepers.”