A foreigner will not understand: the problem with the trend of foreignization in the big groups

The pressure to naturalize the foreigners of the rich teams is a fatal blow to the Israeli footballer.

With all due respect to the need for their success in Europe, it is impossible to cut down the industry so aggressively

Maor Zakaria

10/09/2022

Saturday, September 10, 2022, 2:00 p.m

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Summary: Austria Vienna - Hapoel Be'er Sheva 0:0 (Sport1)

Congratulations, a new sub-branch in Israeli football: the citizenship of foreign players.

Ali Muhammad, Daniel Sungren, Enrique Saborit, Eugene Ansa - all of these and it seems that others too have become - by their teams, coincidentally the strongest teams in the league were also enriched - as candidates for citizenship.

The reasoning, of course, is Zionist (seemingly): this way Israeli football will be able to be more successful in Europe - in light of the limit of six foreigners allowed per team.

The combination is simple: take foreigners, make them Israelis, make room for more foreigners, strengthen the squad and you can lose in a more respectable way in the group stage.

If Israeli football was indeed a completely free market, there would be no problem with this never-ending citizenship fantasy.

The powerful and the rich can, so why not.

It's part of the deal in life.

The point is that Israeli football is not only a platform for the success of Israeli teams in Europe, but also a cultural and social platform for raising young Israeli football players, for paving teenagers from a life of wandering the streets or sitting in front of a computer to a life of sports and achievements, and so on and so forth.

And since there are additional goals - which conflict with the basic ideal of a free market, there is a regulator that sets restrictions - for example, six foreigners in the group.

The idea of ​​the restriction is clear: at least five of the team's players must be Israeli, so that there will still be room for our guys to develop, get playing minutes, accumulate mistakes and successes and grow stronger.

The combo is simple.

Ali Muhammad (Photo: Maor Al-Kalsalsi)

We close in a moment a quarter of a century with foreign players in the rosters of the soccer teams in Israel.

In the 89/90 season, for the first time, the soccer teams were allowed to sign foreign players.

We started with two foreigners in a league of 12 teams, so potentially 24 out of 132 places in the teams' lineups were occupied by foreigners (about 18%). Today we have 6 foreigners in a league of 14 teams, so 84 out of the 154 available spots in the lineups of the groups will be taken over by foreigners (about 54.5%).

But this figure is not true, because the Maccabi Haifa squad, for example, has Josh Cohen, Mavis Chibuta and Nikita Rukavica - all three are very high-level footballers who can play for any team in the league, of course, and all three did not grow up here - but are considered "Israelis ".

That is, if Barak Bacher wants, he can put 9 players in his lineup who did not grow up in Israel.

This is, in fact, a complete reversal of the relationship between Israeli footballers and foreigners compared to the 1989/90 season, which was, as mentioned, the first in which foreigners were allowed to participate in Israel.

If indeed the wave of naturalization washes away our football, we will reach quite quickly - a matter of two or three years - a situation where some teams can put 11 players on the field, none of whom have been through the Israeli youth divisions.

In my opinion, this is a fatal blow that the average Israeli player will receive - not the one who is already registered with a team in the Premier League, but the one who plays in the A boys or the C boys and dreams of a professional career.

Think for a moment what such a child is giving up: although he gets a regular sports club that keeps him on track while our youth are dealing with excess weight, but what about the prices he has to pay?

Giving up social life, fooling around on winter Saturdays even before the sun rises, putting sports before school (in quite a few cases), etc. - all this for a few places at the top of the pyramid (which shouldn't have been easy to get to anyway)?

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can put in his team 9 players who did not grow up in Israel.

Barak Bacher (Photo: Danny Maron)

In the last few weeks, I have heard Eyal Berkovic tell the same story several times: hundreds of parents have been calling him lately and crying that their child, who plays in some youth division in one of the teams in Israel, will never be a professional player.

Not because he's not good enough, but because they understand that he won't even have the opportunity to pass this test, because the way football is going - the chances of going from youth to seniors in the Premier League (and also in the national league, by the way) and actually taking a place there - are disappearing.

I believe Berko and even if he slightly exaggerates the numbers, and it is not "hundreds" but a little less - the essence does not change.

On the subject of the solution, Berkovich has the wrong view in my opinion - he believes that the league should be reduced to 10 teams together with a reduction in the number of foreigners who are allowed to participate in the games.

In my opinion, this is a mistake, the league should be increased further - at the same time as reducing the number of foreigners.

The goal should be to create as many jobs as possible, not make them more exclusive.

• sport

• Israeli soccer

• Super League

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• Ali Muhammad