I think any country can apply to whatever "zone" they want to be in as long as the purpose of the application make sense - competition, humanitarian, and etc. It's up to the zone's governing body to decide after some voting process. Turkey for example, like Israel, are members of FIBA Europe and UEFA.
But as for Israel, I think it's for humanitarian reasons. Neighbouring Muslim countries don't recognize Israel as a "state" that's still causing political tensions in the region. Imagine Israel playing against Iran, we know how's that going to end up.
OT: Australia is a member of the Asian Football Confederation despite being geographically under Oceania Football Confederation.
group b..
Similar Threads |
|