The Israel Football Association chairman Avi Luzon will leave Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT) at the end of February, after working for 35 years in various positions. Discount Bank's management wants 300 employees to take early retirement this year.
Luzon (57) has served as head of business development at Discount Bank's Banking Division since 2007. He started out as an investment advisor at a branch in Petah Tikva.
Luzon said that he will now devote himself full time to football, as chairman of the Israel Football Association and as an executive committee member of UEFA. "I won't deny that juggling my work at the bank and as Football Association chairman has become harder," he said. "Every day of the week, my workday began at Discount Bank in the morning, and ended late at night at the Football Association's offices."
Luzon added, "I intend to work in public service, and to work harder ahead of a pivotal year in Israeli football, with the construction of new stadiums, the establishment of the new national training center, which will be run by the best professionals, and hosting the Euro 2013 Under-21 championships, one of the most prestigious tournaments in Europe."
In the past year, Luzon has won some notoriety, after being questioned three times under caution by the Israel Police Fraud Unit in a match fixing investigation. The questions focused on suspicion that he intervened in the selection of referees in Premier League matches, at the behest of gamblers. He has denied all the allegations.
Luzon's compensation package from Discount Bank is estimated at NIS 4 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 2, 2012
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