Why is Israel an outcast in Asian Cup football tournament?

As Qatar prepares to host 23 international football teams and defend the Asia Cup trophy on home soil, one country that will not be playing the continental tournament that begins on January 12 will be Israel.

Despite being geographically located in Asia, football's governing body FIFA has not registered the country in FIFA's Asian Football Confederation [AFC].

Instead, it is registered in the Europe region.

Here is a look at Israel's history in the tournament and the reasons behind Israel's status as a pariah nation in the AFC Asian Cup.

What is Israel's history in the Asian Cup?

Since its occupation of historic Palestine and creation in 1948, Israel has played in four Asian Cups —1956, 1960, 1964 and 1968.

Israel hosted and won the 1964 Asian Cup, the only trophy it has ever won, and became the runner-up in both 1956 and 1960.

In total, the Israeli team scored 28 goals across all four tournaments.

Controversies have always haunted Israel during its participation in the Asian Cup tournaments, but this became evidently clear in the 1964 Asian Cup, which Israel itself hosted and won.

In that tournament, many teams withdrew from the championship over their political disputes with both Israel and India. Taiwan — which used to play previously as the Republic of China — withdrew for logistical reasons.

The 1964 tournament was left with only four teams — Israel, India, South Korea, and Hong Kong.

Why was Israel kicked out of the Asian Football Federation?

Israel joined the Asian Football Federation in 1954.

Before it was booted out from the federation in 1974, Israel had always been under pressure when it came to sports due to the lack of recognition to the Jewish state from its Arab neighbours — most of which are regulars in the Asian Cup.

With its brutal occupation of Palestine, many Arab countries and others in the Asia region had no diplomatic, economic, or military ties with Israel.

The pressure on Israel mounted even further during the 1967 Arab-Israel war that saw Israel capturing Syria's Golan Heights, Jordan's West Bank and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

The final straw that broke the camel's back came as a motion initiated by Kuwait in 1974 to expel Israel from the AFC, when both the Arab Gulf nation and North Korea refused to play against Israel in the Asian games.

The motion saw a 17 to 13 vote in favour, with six nations abstaining. Kuwait's motion was accepted and Israel was exiled from the AFC.

When did Israel start playing in Europe?

After 1974, Israel spent some years in the football wilderness without any confederation.

The team participated in the 1982 qualifying matches for the World Cup in Europe, but Israel was not part of the confederation yet.

Israel started its formal process of joining Europe in 1991. It was completed in 1994.

Since then, Israel has never seen any success in football due to the tougher competition in Europe, where most of the football powerhouses are located, including the likes of England, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal and the Netherlands. All of them have won either or both the European Cup and the FIFA World Cup.

Israel qualified only once to the FIFA World Cup in 1970, but never made it past the group stages.

How did Israel's occupation negatively impact Palestine's football sector?

The Palestinian Football Association [PFA] was established in 1928, 20 years before Israel was established.

PFA was accepted by FIFA in 1998.

Palestine expanded its football in the early 20th century, with many clubs emerging, many of which were location-based clubs and religiously affiliated clubs, including the Orthodox clubs in Jerusalem, the Islamic Club of Jaffa and the Islamic Club of Haifa.

As Zionist Jews occupied Palestine and established Israel with the help of Western powers, many Jewish clubs from Europe also migrated illegally to Palestine over the years.

The growing sports sector in historic Palestine declined, especially after the killing of many Palestinian players amid the illegal expansion of Israeli colonisers.

Palestine's current FIFA ranking is 99, with its highest ever being 73, and its lowest 191.

Israel's current FIFA ranking is 75, with its highest being 15, and its lowest 99.