RoM

Ahead of tomorrow's scheduled meeting between
Israel Football Association chairman Gavri Levi
and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and UEFA
Secretary General Gerhard Aigner, the foreign
ministries of Spain, Italy and Austria have called
for a lifting of the ban on Israel's hosting of
international games.



In a letter to UEFA president
Lennart Johansson, Italian
Foreign Minister Franco
Frattini said that Israel
soccer fans are being prevented
from having a fair chance to
support their national team and
Israel clubs and to enjoy home
games. "We believe that in view
of the recent developments in

the region, the time has come to give Israel a
chance to rejoin fully the family of European
soccer," Frattini wrote.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi met on
Friday with Shalom and promised him that he
would strive to have the UEFA ban lifted.
Berlusconi, who owns the Italian side AC Milan,
is currently the rotating president of the
European Union.

Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio added her
support for the lifting of the ban on Friday in
a letter to Johansson and FIFA president Sepp
Blatter. "Rescinding UEFA's ban would send a
message that the situation in the Middle East
has improved and would contribute to the
stability of the region," Palacio wrote.
Austria also expressed its support for an end
to the ban in letters sent to the heads of UEFA
and FIFA.

The ban was originally imposed some two years
ago after a terrorist attack on a Tel Aviv
restaurant frequented by footballers that left
three people dead. Several Hapoel Tel Aviv
players were at the restaurant at the time of
the attack, although none were hurt.