Israel and Austria will play their World Cup qualifying match as scheduled Saturday night in Israel, after FIFA, the world governing body for soccer, rejected a last-minute appeal by Austria to postpone the match. The Austrian team had argued that its players would not be able to have hot food in their hotel on the game day due to the Jewish Sabbath, and had requested that the game be played on Sunday instead.

Spokesmen for the Austrian team announced that an acceptable culinary arrangement had been reached, whereby an Austrian chef would cook for them at the country's embassy in Ramat Gan, and the food delivered to the David Intercontinental Hotel in Tel Aviv, where they would be staying. If there are no traffic jams along the way, the food should arrive at the hotel at least as hot as if it had been warmed in the hotel's ovens, Maariv reported.

The complaint from Vienna was based on the fact that Israeli hotels do not light flames in their kitchens on Saturday. The Austrians claimed a cold meal would not suffice to power their players. Their training regimen demanded a menu of steaks and spaghetti, prepared on the day it was eaten, they said.

The Israeli Federation assured FIFA and the Austrians that special ovens would ensure that they received hot food, despite Jewish dietary laws. "We sent a letter to FIFA telling them the Austrians have no reason to be concerned, they will receive hot food, and if they are not satisfied, [we] will see to it that they can go out to eat at one of the best restaurants in the vicinity of their hotel," an IFA spokesman said.

But Ronnen Nuessenbaum, manager of the hotel, attached a letter to that of the IFA in which he explained that the Austrians could not be served steaks, spaghetti or soup, as the team had demanded. An alternative menu of smoked salmon was reportedly suggested. This apparently provoked considerable pique in the Austrian camp, peeved that IFA chairman Gavri Levy did not notify Vienna of the culinary restrictions when the match was rescheduled.

Austrian fear of terrorism led to call to transfer match
The Austrian fret about their food is the last in a long string of attempts by the national team to avoid coming to Israel for their upcoming match. Austrian players had previously claimed they were worried about the dangers of terrorism in the region. The match with Israel was scheduled to be played earlier in the month, but nine key team members announced their refusal to come to Israel to play in the country. At the same time, the Austrian Foreign Ministry advised citizens "to postpone nonessential trips to Israel."

The game was officially postponed after FIFA ruled that the crash of the Siberian Airline plane in the Black Sea supported the Austrian claim that the region was risky. "It was and is my opinion that it is simply too dangerous in Israel. FIFA came to the same conclusion, but late," player Cristian Mayrleb told the Austrian Press Agency APA at the time.

But after the postponement, FIFA president Sepp Blatter confirmed in a letter to the Israel Football Association that the postponed World Cup qualifier would go ahead "in no place other than Israel," despite the unrest in the Middle East.

After the assassination of Rechavam Ze'evi, Otto Baric, Austria's coach said that it was obvious the conditions in Israel were "not normal." When Israel issued an ultimatum to the Palestinians, the Austrian team made renewed efforts to transfer the match to a neutral European site. Spokesmen for the Austrian Football Federation said that the security situation in Israel had deteriorated and they asked FIFA to allow the match to be played outside the country.

The Austrians raised the hot food issue as a last minute attempt to delay the game or possibly as yet another stage of their psychological warfare campaign against the Israeli team. On Wednesday, World Cups event head Daniel Rupf wrote to Austrian Football Association general-secretary Alfred Ludwig confirming the match, which would " be played as scheduled in Tel Aviv on October 27."

Israeli players and commentators speculated that the last of a long line of Austrian complaints had less to do with food and everything to do with football. Last time the Austrian team visited Israel, the local team drubbed them, 5-0. That, they evidently felt, was definitely not kosher.

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