The leader of Israeli soccer is in a fight: the chairman of the soccer association, Oren Hasson, will compete for the presidency of the body that manages the sport in Israel – against Moshe (Shino) Zoertz, this coming Tuesday. Last night (Thursday), he came to be interviewed at the “Press Stand”, valid Zoertz and explained his decision to file another petition against Zoertz – before the selection process, which will take place in just four days.
“I fear for the purity of the elections,” said Hasson, “the court will decide what it will decide. Even if I were not running, and I would think there was a fear for the purity of the elections – I would act in the same way.” What are the suspicions? “I sign confidentiality,” Hasson said, “because I was exposed to the data. In the macro, it is about Shino Zoertz’s involvement with several groups with very respectable donations, during the four years he served as chairman and as a member of the association’s management.”
In addition, Hasson attacked Zoaretz – and referred to the press conference he convened, in which the heads of Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa declared their support for him in the race for the presidency of the association. There is one representative for the Arab sector…”
“Throughout my term, I took care of amateur soccer, women’s soccer, the Israeli national team – is that what you want, for the manager to take over the association? The association is the regulator of soccer. I will not be the puppet, neither of Maccabi Tel Aviv nor of Maccabi Haifa. It is clear to them that I take care of the entire mosaic of Israeli football.”
“The move I’m making is to protect all of football, the beating heart of football,” he said, “I don’t think the director should be disbanded, she’s a good and right thing, but she should focus on professional football.”