Weeam Amasha ( ar, وئام عماشة, he, וויאם עמאשה; born 8 August 1985) is a

Golan Heights The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...

-born

Druze The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...

footballer.

Early life

Amasha is a

from the village

Buq'ata Buq'ata ( ar, بقعاثا ; he, בוקעאתא) is a Druze town, administered as a local council, in the northern section of the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights. Buq'ata covers an area of 7,000 dunams (7 km²) between two m ...

. He holds no official citizenship but rather an Israeli Travel Document. With special permission from

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

, Amasha played for Israel despite having received interest from the

Syrian Football Association The Syrian Arab Football Association (SFA; ar, الاتحاد العربي السوري لكرة القدم) is the governing body of football in Syria, controlling the Syrian national team and the Syrian Premier League. The Syrian Football Ass ...

. When Amasha goes to a match abroad he is required to get a visa for any country since he doesn't hold a real passport.

Club career

On 7 June 20, 2011 Amasha signed a four-year contract with Israeli defending champion

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

. Amasha made his debut on

2011–12 UEFA Champions League The 2011–12 UEFA Champions League was the 57th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 20th season in its current Champions League format. As part of a trial that started in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa Lea ...

Second qualifying round, 13 July 2011, against

Borac Banja Luka Fudbalski klub Borac Banja Luka (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Бopaц Бања Лука, ) is a Bosnian professional association football club, based in the city of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is the major part of th ...

and scored three goals.

International career

After catching the eye of Israel national team manager,

Luis Fernández Luis Miguel Fernández Toledo (born 2 October 1959), known as Luis Fernandez, is a French football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder. Fernandez spent most of his playing career for Paris Saint-Germain. He earned 6 ...

, Amasha was thought to be on his way to making a full national team appearance. Due to changes in FIFA statutes, Amasha can not represent the full national team without acquiring an

Israeli passport The Israeli passport ( he, דַּרְכּוֹן יִשְׂרְאֵלִי, ''Darkon Yisre'eli''; ar, جواز سفر إسرائيلي) is a passport issued to Israeli citizens to enable them to travel outside Israel, and entitles the bearer to th ...

. On November 30, 2011, FIFA gave Amasha special permission to play for the Israeli national team without a passport.

Honours

Ironi Kiryat Shmona

Toto Cup The Israel Toto Cup ( he, גביע הטוטו, ''Gvia Ha'Toto'') is an association football tournament that features clubs in the two highest divisions in Israel: the Israeli Premier League ( Ligat Ha'Al), and the second division Liga Leumit. Fro ...

(1): **2010–11 *

Israel State Cup The Israel State Cup ( he, גביע המדינה, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involve ...

(1): **2014

Maccabi Haifa

**''Runner-up (1)'':

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

**''Runner-up (1)'':

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

References

1985 births Living people Arab citizens of Israel Israeli Druze Arab-Israeli footballers Druze sportspeople Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona F.C. players Maccabi Ahi Nazareth F.C. players Maccabi Haifa F.C. players Bnei Sakhnin F.C. players Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. players Hapoel Hadera F.C. players F.C. Daburiyya players F.C. Tira players Liga Leumit players Israeli Premier League players Israel under-21 international footballers Association football forwards Israeli footballers {{Israel-footy-bio-stub