The Israeli Futsal League is the premier futsal league in Israel it is organized by Israel Football Association. The League winner qualify to the UEFA Futsal Cup.
| Founded | 1998 |
|---|---|
| Country | Israel |
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| International cup(s) | UEFA Futsal Cup |
| Current champions | ASA Ben-Gurion University (2013–14) |
| Website | Futsal Israel (in Hebrew) |
| Current: 2013–14 (in Hebrew) | |
History
editA national futsal league was first organized informally in the early 1990s, building upon the success of the Israel national futsal team in the 1989 and 1992 UEFS Futsal Men's Championship.[1] In 1998, a semi-professional league was organized with the IFA, which ran for two seasons, in 1999 and 2000, and was re-organized as a professional league, sponsored by Coca-Cola, which was called "5X5 Coca-Cola League".[2][3] This league ran for three seasons, two (winter and summer) in 2003 and one in 2004. During this period there was an attempt to organize a Women's Futsal League, which ran for two seasons..[4] In 2006 the league was re-organized, this time under the name "Israeli Futsal League", and with better cooperation with the IFA.[5] Starting from 2004 league champions competed in the UEFA Futsal Cup, with the best achievement coming from Hapoel Ironi Rishon, who qualified for the Elite round in both 2008 and 2009
Former Champions
edit| Season | Winner |
|---|---|
| Futsal League | |
| 1999 | Yanshufei Agudat Sport Tel Aviv |
| 2000 | Yanshufei Agudat Sport Tel Aviv |
| 5X5 Coca-Cola League | |
| 2002–03 (winter) |
HaShalom Beer Sheva |
| 2003 (summer) |
HaShalom Beer Sheva |
| 2004 | Beitar Jerusalem (futsal) |
| Israeli Futsal League | |
| 2005–06 | HaShalom Beer Sheva |
| 2006–07 | Hapoel Ironi Rishon Lezion (futsal) |
| 2007–08 | Hapoel Ironi Rishon Lezion (futsal) |
| 2008–09 | Yanshufei Agudat Sport Tel Aviv |
| 2009–10 | Yanshufei Agudat Sport Tel Aviv |
| 2010–11 | ASA Ben-Gurion University |
| 2011–12 | Maccabi Nahalat Yitzhak Tel Aviv |
| 2012–13 | ASA Ben-Gurion University |
| 2013–14 | ASA Ben-Gurion University |
| 2014–15 | ASA Ben-Gurion University |
Israel Futsal State Cup
editFor a single season, in 2010, the IFA arranged a cup competition for futsal club, which was played after the league was completed, between October and December 2012. The winner of the competition was Yanshufei Agudat Sport Tel Aviv, who have beaten Hapoel Ironi Rishon Lezion (futsal) 8–7 in the final, and completed the double for the season.[6]
References
edit- ^ History of the Game in Israel futsal.co.il (in Hebrew)
- ^ The Professional Indoor League Starts Hadar Farber, 17 December 2002, news1.co.il (in Hebrew)
- ^ Coca-Cola to Invest $300,000 in Sponsorship and Advertising of the Indoor League Anat Bein, 5 December 2012, Globes (in Hebrew)
- ^ Futsal, Big-time Lior Weitz, 11 June 2004, walla.co.il (in Hebrew)
- ^ The Futsal League Starts Dana Sidi, 20 November 2007, ynet.co.il (in Hebrew)
- ^ Futsal State Cup Israeli Football Association (in Hebrew)
External links
edit- Uefa.com (in English)
- Futsalplanet.com (in English)
- Futsal Israel (in Hebrew)
- Israel Football Association (in Hebrew)