Int'l Soccer: Kashtan brands Luzon a 'liar' after Knesset meeting no-show

Intl Soccer Kashtan br

By ALLON SINAI
Outgoing Israel coach Dror Kashtan labeled Israel Football Association chairman Avi Luzon a "liar" after Luzon told the Knesset's Education, Culture and Sports Committee that the veteran coach had avoided Wednesday's special meeting discussing the national team's failure to progress to the World Cup. MK Ofir Pines claimed that the main problem in Israeli soccer is the way clubs are being run, but the opinions of the populist politicians were quickly forgotten after Kashtan's scathing attack on Luzon. Luzon said in the meeting that Kashtan chose not to attend because he didn't want to answer the committee's questions. But the coach claimed that he was never invited. According to the Knesset, the IFA was in charge of inviting Kashtan to the meeting, while the IFA said that it was the Knesset's responsibility to summon the coach. "Luzon is a liar. He lied to the Knesset," Kashtan told Sport5. "No one notified me of this meeting. If the IFA wanted me to come they could have called. When they want me they always get hold of me." Kashtan and his assistant Moshe Sinai were not the only ones to miss Wednesday's meeting. Former national team coach Shlomo Sharf, legendary ex-player Mordechai Spiegler and Maccabi Haifa chairman Jacob Shahar all chose to skip what was widely regarded in the Israeli soccer world as just another political stunt by headline-grabbing MK's.