The 1963–64 season was the 16th season of competitive football in Israel and the 38th season under the Israeli Football Association, established in 1928, during the British Mandate.

Review and Events Israel hosted its first international tournament, the 1964 AFC Asian Cup. The national team won the tournament, its first major trophy. The U-19 national team participated for the first time in the AFC U-19 Championship, sharing the cup with Burma after 0–0 in the final. Prior to the U-19 national team's departure to the AFC Youth Championship, several players were questioned by the Military Police on suspicions of falsifying their I.D. cards, in an attempt of making three of the team's squad, Ze'ev Seltzer, Moshe Leon and Danny Borsok, eligible for the competition, as the three were born before the cut-off date of 1 April 1944.Leon, D. Borsok and Seltzer Were Arrested by the Military Police on Suspicions of I.D. Falsification Aharon Lahav, Davar, 13 April 1964, Historical Jewish Press The three were released and departed with the team to Saigon, where they were declared ineligible to the competition and didn't take part in it,The "Scandal Players" Were Not Allowed to Play in Saigon Dov Atzmon, Davar, 19 April 1964, Historical Jewish Press while the investigation was handed over the civil police. Upon the team's return from the championship, the three were arrested by the police, along with Shmuel Ben-Dror, head of the Israeli delegation to the championship.Member of the FA Youth Committee Was Arrested Regarding the Falsifications Herut, 6 May 1964, Historical Jewish Press In July 1964, Seltzer, Borsok and Ben-Dror, along with another IFA executive, Uri Vilenski, were charged with document falsification and knowingly transferring falsified documents.An Indictment Was Filed in the Footballers' "Age Falsification" Affair Herut, 6 July 1964, Historical Jewish Press The trial was concluded in February 1965, and Seltzer, Borsok and Vilenski were found guilty, while Ben-Dror was cleared of all charges.Ben-Dror Cleared in the "Football Trial"; Borsok, Seltzer and Vilenski Were Found Guilty Yigal Lev, Ma'ariv, 1 February 1965, Historical Jewish Press At the end of the season, the IFA decided to set the number of team in each division to 16 (except for Liga Gimel, in which the number of club in each division was set by the number of clubs registering for the season). This meant that Liga Leumit was expanded from 15 clubs to 16 and both Liga Alef division were expanded from 14 clubs to 16 clubs.

Domestic leagues

Promotion and relegation The following promotions and relegations took place at the end of the season:

Promoted to Liga Leumit Maccabi Netanya Beitar Tel Aviv

Relegated from Liga Leumit Hapoel Lod

Promoted to Liga Alef Hapoel Safed Beitar Haifa Hapoel Bnei Nazareth Hapoel Netanya Hapoel Ra'anana Beitar Lod Beitar Harari Tel Aviv Hapoel Ashkelon Maccabi Holon

Relegated from Liga Alef Hapoel Nahariya Hapoel Givat Haim Maccabi Shmuel Tel Aviv Hapoel Rishon LeZion

Promoted to Liga Bet Hapoel Hulata Hapoel Beit Eliezer Beitar Beit Lid Hapoel Shefayim Beitar Petah Tikva Beitar Ramat Gan Beitar Rehovot ASA Jerusalem Hapoel Kiryat Malakhi Hapoel Be'eri Hapoel Yagur Beitar Kiryat Tiv'on Hapoel Ashdod

Relegated from Liga Bet Beitar Acre Beitar Safed Beitar Binyamina Beitar Mahane Yehuda Beitar Holon Hapoel HaTzafon Jerusalem Maccabi Ashkelon Maccabi Ramla

Domestic cups

Israel State Cup The 1963–64 Israel State Cup, which stated on 21 September 1963, was delayed by a series of appeals on third round results which were settled only by June 1963, forcing the competition to be carried over to the next season.

National Teams

National team

1964 Summer Olympics qualification The national team competed in the Asian zone of the 1964 Summer Olympics qualification and was drawn to play South Vietnam in the first round. After winning 1–0 in Saigon,A Pale Match Gave an Unconvincing Victory of Vietnam Yehuda Gabai, Ma'ariv, 30 December 1963, Historical Jewish Press Israel suffered a shock 0–2 defeat in Ramat Gan and was eliminated from qualification.The Over Confidence Cost Dearly Yesha'ayahu Porat, Ma'ariv, 18 March 1964, Historical Jewish Press

1964 AFC Asian Cup

1963–64 matches

National U-19 team

1964 AFC Youth Championship

First round

Final

References