Allardyce defends Ben Haim

Bolton manager Sam Allardyce has launched a scathing attack on the Israeli Football Association for expelling defender Tal Ben Haim and “blackening” his name.

The 24-year-old, who has won 22 caps for his country, was last week kicked out of Israel’s training camp in Slovenia by coach Dror Kashtan.

Ben Haim allegedly refused to take part in preparations for last Tuesday’s friendly against Slovenia, claming he needed time to recover from Bolton’s two friendlies in Spain.

His stance led to him being suspended and caused a backlash in Israel, prompting Allardyce to launch a vigorous defence of his defender.

Allardyce said: “The name of one of our players has been blackened and because he has been so hurt in such an unfair way and has not spoken or reacted publicly I decided to support him openly.

“On August 5 Bolton flew to Spain for a training camp and Ben Haim played for 90 minutes on the Tuesday and Thursday against both Huelva and Seville.”

However, when Ben Haim joined up with Israel on the following Friday, the conflict began.

Allardyce added: “The Israel fitness coach asked Ben Haim what he had been doing over the previous few days and he explained about the two matches he had played and the fact that he had travelled for 13 hours the previous day.

“Ben Haim told him he needed time to recover and that he did not feel he should train that day, knowing that the team were not due to play until three days later. Ben Haim assured him he would be ready for a full training session the following day.

“Apparently, when Ben Haim turned up for training on the Sunday, fully fit and rested, they refused to allow him to join the other players so he trained by himself on another pitch. He was told he was suspended and that a flight had been arranged for him back to the UK that evening.”

Allardyce revealed the conflict with the Israeli FA dates back to last August when Ben Haim was asked to fly to the Ukraine to represent his country immediately after playing for Bolton.

Allardyce revealed Ben Haim made the flight with “no proper food provided for him” before playing against Ukraine and sustaining a hernia, which the Bolton boss claimed was a direct consequence of his poor preparations.

Ben Haim has proved an outstanding success for Bolton since joining from Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2004 and played the full 90 minutes of Saturday’s 2-0 win against Tottenham.