Argentine soccer player scrambles to stay in Israel after contract is canceled

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentinian soccer player Pedro Galvan is struggling against the possibility of being deported from Israel after the cancellation of his contract with the Hapoel Tel Aviv club.

After 10 years of his professional career in Israel, Galvan is the top foreign scorer, achieving 104 goals in 257 matches.

The cancellation of his contract brings to a halt the process he had begun of obtaining Israeli citizenship.

Israel’s Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev has stepped in on Galvan’s behalf.

“I personally approached Interior Minister Aryeh Deri to grant citizenship to Galvan for his contribution to soccer in Israel, and the Culture and Sport Ministry sent a recommendation to the Interior Ministry to issue him a work visa,” Regev said.

Galvan played from 2008 to 2012 at Bnei Yehuda, then moved to Maccabi Petah Tikva. In 2014, he scored his 71st goal in the Israeli top league, becoming the league’s highest scoring foreign player.

The non-Jewish player spoke up for Israel when the match between his native Argentina’s national squad and his adopted country was in doubt earlier this year due to pressure from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

“We have the number one army of the world, the number one intelligence, it is very safe here. There is no safer place than Israel. If I said here it is heaven… you will think I’m exaggerating. Argentina must come here, the team will have more security than [Prime Minister Benjamin] ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu,” he told the TNT news channel in June.

Ultimately, the match was canceled. Galvan in that interview recommended that his native countrymen come visit.

“Please come here to see, life is the luxe here. I can’t find a better place. My daughters speak Hebrew better than Spanish. My wife also wants to stay here,” he said on live Spanish-language TV.