FIFA President Gianni Infantino said he would visit Israel in May to see for himself how football is developing after meeting the Israeli Football Association (IFA) President Shino Moshe Zuares in Paris on Tuesday. President Infantino visited the Shefayim National Team Complex, a state-of-the-art technical centre supported by the FIFA Forward programme, during a two-day visit in late 2021. Since, development plans have continued apace, and the FIFA President will now get an opportunity to gauge their progress for himself. “I’m very much looking forward to the opportunity to travel to Israel to see how far they have come since my previous visit,” said the President. “Football has the capacity to bring people and communities together, and the IFA have worked tirelessly to provide opportunities for everyone to play the sport. Arsène Wenger’s input will reinforce and enhance coaching practices, ensuring players across the range of ages will get the best possible education in the game.”

The IFA already have plans afoot for a base for all national teams, and have already built an academy to boost youth development, which President Infantino will now get to see first-hand. “For us, it’s great news. We are able to show him what we have done, how we are improving and what we are going to build in the future,” said President Zuares. “I appreciate the visit very much. I appreciate the way that the President was positive about all of our needs. For us, it’s very, very important and we want to see improvement immediately for Israeli football.” FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development, Arsène Wenger, also attended the meeting in the French capital. Mr. Zuares said the know-how the former AS Monaco, Nagoya Grampus Eight and Arsenal coach could impart would be invaluable. “We have to improve our education and the matter of coaching in Israel. We spoke about it and they promised me as well that Mr. Wenger will come to visit Israel and give some seminars on coaching in Israel, which is, for us, very important.”