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| Liverpool manager refuses to play Maccabi Haifa in Israel
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LONDON (EJP)--- Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has said he does not believe his team to should play a match in Israel, after the English side were drawn against Israeli champions Maccabi Haifa in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers.
Benitez said he was worried about the dangerous situation in Israel, as the country is currently in the midst of a violent conflict with Lebanese group Hezbollah with rockets being fired daily from either side of the border.
“There is no way we should be going to Israel to play a game of football at this time,” Benitez said. “It’s crazy to even consider it. UEFA cannot put anyone at risk. The situation is very clear in my mind.”
Benitez, a Spaniard who is preparing to lead Liverpool for the second season, spoke of his concern for the Israeli people stuck in the middle of the conflict.
He said: “I feel sad for the people over there at the moment because it’s a terrible time for them, but we have to put the security and safety of everyone involved before anything else and that means we cannot travel there. It would be impossible to concentrate on the game.”
A final decision will be made by next Wednesday.
Big match
The draw for the qualifying stages of the European Champions League and UEFA Cup was made on Friday by UEFA, the governing body of European football, in Nyon, Switzerland.
The Champions League third qualifying round will be played over two legs on August 8/9 and 22/23. The first leg is to be played at Liverpool’s stadium, Anfield and the return leg currently scheduled to be played at Israel’s national Ramat Gan Stadium near Tel Aviv.
Current UEFA rulings allow Israel to play club and international matches only in the Tel Aviv area.
Rob Faulkner, a UEFA official, said: “We’ve asked the Israel Football Association and relevant authorities to give us assurances concerning safety.”
The Israeli FA has also been asked by UEFA to look at alternative venues, should the game have be played outside the country.
Faulkner added: “We all see the news and have serious concerns and the situation is changing daily but this is the right way to do it and we’re asking the right people.
“We will be in discussions with both clubs, the key is the safety of players, fans and officials and we wouldn’t go ahead if we didn’t have those assurances. We’ve played with problems and conflict there before and also played games away from Israel.”
President is confident
Maccabi Haifa president Yaakov Shachar said he is optimistic the game against the competition’s winners in 2005 be played in Israel.
Speaking to Sky Sports News he said: “Tel Aviv is quiet, let’s hope things will stay quiet and we will be able to host Liverpool. It’s an unpleasant situation although we understand Liverpool’s concerns.”
Five years ago Maccabi were set to play Liverpool at this stage, however their victory against Finnish side, FC Haka was reversed as they had fielded an ineligible player.
Roni Levi, the Haifa coach, said: “Drawing Liverpool means coming full circle for us. I have had a personal encounter against Rafael Benítez [Liverpool’s manager] when Haifa played against his former club Valencia and we held them 0-0 draw in the first leg in Spain but lost the return leg at a neutral venue.”
Three Israeli teams were included in the draw for the UEFA Cup, and all will have to travel to Eastern Europe during their two leg ties.
Hapoel Tel Aviv have the easiest task, facing Domzale of Slovenia, Betar Jerusalem were picked to play former European giants Dynamo Bucharest of Romania and Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv will play Bulgarian team Lokomotiv Sofia.
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