Full coverage· Sports· Updated
Issawi Freige Disqualified From Israeli Football Association Presidency Race
Incumbent chairman Shino Zuarz will continue in his role as Chairman of the Football Association for another four-year term after his sole challenger, former minister Issawi Frej, was disqualified from running.
4 newsrooms · 2 languages · since
What happened
- 01Incumbent Shino Zuarz will serve another four-year term as Football Association Chairman after his opponent was disqualified.
- 02Former minister Issawi Frej failed to meet the requirement of 10% support from voting clubs to qualify for the election.
- 03Frej secured only 94 votes, representing 7.3% of the total voting rights.
- 04Zuarz received 1,070 votes, accounting for approximately 83.7% of the total 1,277 possible votes.
- 05The deadline for submitting candidacies and support letters was October 11, 2026.
- 06Legal officials Ran Cohen Nissan and Boaz City announced the disqualification after reviewing and filtering the support letters.
- 07Zuarz's candidacy will now proceed to the eligibility review committee as the sole candidate for the position.
According to official protocols released by the association on Monday, October 12, 2026, Frej failed to meet the regulatory requirement of securing support from clubs holding at least 10% of the voting rights. Frej gathered only 94 votes, representing approximately 7.3% of the total, while Zuarz secured a substantial 1,070 votes, or about 83.7% of the total 1,277 possible votes.
The deadline for submitting candidacies was October 11, 2026, and only Zuarz and Frej submitted their bids. Following a review of the support letters by Ran Cohen Nissan, Director of the Legal Department, and Boaz City, Legal Advisor, invalid, duplicate, or canceled letters were disqualified, leaving Frej short of the threshold.
With Frej disqualified, Zuarz remains the sole candidate. His candidacy will now proceed to the committee responsible for vetting and examining the eligibility of candidates for the chairmanship, making the upcoming election a formality.
Summarized by baba from the reports of 3 newsrooms. Updated
Latest report: Panet. Read Panet’s originalThe coverage
4 newsrooms on this story
Who covered it
- LeftNone
- Centre1
- Right1
- HarediNone
- Arab1
- Other1
How it broke
How the headlines differ
Issawi Freige Disqualified From Israeli Football Association Presidency Race
