JERUSALEM, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Israeli footballer Omer Atzili on Thursday evening announced his retirement from the national team amid a sex scandal.
The case happened more than two years ago when it was revealed that midfielder Atzili and another senior Israeli footballer, Dor Micha, had sexual relations with two 15-year-old girls.
The Israeli police investigated the two players, who at the time played for Maccabi Tel Aviv, then the Israeli Office of the State Attorney closed the case file after accepting the players' claim that their actions were with the consent of the girls.
Following the state attorney's decision, the Israel Football Association decided that Atzili could continue playing for the national team.
However, new revelations about the case by an Israeli TV channel, indicated that alcohol and drugs were also involved, which increased public criticism of Atzili wearing the national uniform.
"Not a day goes by that I don't regret what happened," 29-year-old Atzili wrote in an Instagram post. "On the other hand, sometimes the difficulties that I and those close to me suffer is out of all proportion."
He added that "the desire of certain people, sometimes hypocritically, simply to trample, is not easy for me. In view of the ongoing witch-hunt around me, I made a difficult decision to step aside."
Just after the case was published in 2020, Maccabi Tel Aviv decided to release the two players from the team.
In January 2021, Atzili signed with Maccabi Haifa and led his new club to two Israeli Premier League championship titles. He was also named league MVP last season, in which he scored 20 goals.
Atzili also scored both goals in Maccabi Haifa's 2-0 win over Juventus in the Champions League last month. ■
