Following the disqualification of the former minister – Shino Zuarez will continue as chairman of the association
Shino Zuarez won the support of 83.7% of the votes of clubs with voting rights in the elections for chairman of the Football Association, while Issawi Frej received only 7.3% and did not meet the requirement of the regulations. As a result, only Zuarez's candidacy will be forwarded to the committee examining the eligibility of candidates, and he is expected to serve as chairman of the association for another term.
The race for the position of chairman of the board of the Israel Football Association took a significant turn after a review of the letters of support submitted ahead of the elections found that only Shino Zuarez's candidacy would be forwarded for further eligibility review. The deadline for submitting candidacies was set for October 11, 2026, at 23:59. By that date only two candidacies were received: that of Zuarez and that of Issawi Frej. Both candidates submitted CVs, a candidacy affidavit and letters of support from clubs that are members of the association. As part of the review, the letters of support of both candidates were examined, while recording the total number of votes of the clubs that expressed support in them. Letters of support found to be invalid, cancelled or submitted in duplicate were deducted from the count. The number of valid votes of each candidate was then calculated, and his support rate was determined relative to the 1,277 votes of all clubs with voting rights. The results of the review indicated a significant advantage for Zuarez, who received support representing 1,070 votes, about 83.7% of all votes. By contrast, Frej received support representing only 94 votes, about 7.3%. According to the protocol, Frej did not meet the minimum required support threshold of 10%, and therefore his candidacy will not be forwarded to the next stage. The meaning of the decision is that Zuarez is the only candidate who passed the letters-of-support review stage, and will therefore serve as chairman of the association for another 4 years.