FIFA suspends Israel coach
Luis Fernandez suspended from all football activity with immediate effect due to financial dispute with Qatari team he previously coached, world's soccer ruling body says
The 51-year-old Spanish-born former French national had been suspended, FIFA said, because of an outstanding judgment made against him in 2009 relating to a Qatari team he had coached.
The Israeli Football Association (IFA) had said earlier on Thursday they had received an "official request" from FIFA to fire Fernandez.
The request said Fernandez "must cease all football related activities immediately due to a failure to pay a debt to a team he coached in the past in Qatar," the Israeli body said in a statement.
The IFA said in a statement they were due to meet Fernandez to discuss the issue.
"Next week I will meet with Luis Fernandez and decide together how to solve the problem that was created," IFA chairman Eli Luzon said.
In the statement Fernandez added: "This is a long-standing legal dispute. I am sure that things will work before the next set of matches at the end of March."
Fernandez has not had much success since taking over the national team last March, racking up just one win in European qualifying, over Malta.
Fernandez, who played 60 times for France and was a member of the side that won the 1984 European Championship title, coached Paris Saint Germain to the 1996 Cup Winners Cup, and was also in charge of Spanish sides Athletic Bilbao and Espanyol.
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