Pini Balili (; born 18 June 1979) is an Israeli former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player. He was born in Jerusalem and is Jewish, of Turkish descent.

Career

Move back to Hapoel

As a youngster, Balili grew up supporting

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv () is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as football, basketball, w ...

and was part of the youth system there before moving to Shimshon Tel Aviv in his teens. It wasn't long before he caught the eye of Hapoel scouts who saw Balili as a missed opportunity so the club purchased his contract after just one professional season. His breakout did not come until the

Dror Kashtan Dror Kashtan (; 1 October 1944 – 15 January 2024) was an Israeli football player and manager. Biography Dror Kashtan was born in Petah Tikva during the British Mandate for Palestine. Sports career As a player, he represented the Israel nati ...

era at

. Instrumental in the club's success in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, Balili found himself featuring for the national team as well. After the 2002–03 season, Hapoel decided to cut wages and Pini left for Turkish club Istanbulspor.

Time in Turkey

Balili's Turkish league debut was sensational; on 10 August 2003, he scored a beautiful chip as his team surprised city rivals Fenerbache 3–0. troubles at Istanbulspor led to Balili being let go after just one season. Though he immediately signed with newly promoted

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

. In 2006,

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Net Global Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department has competed in Süper Lig since t ...

applied for Turkish citizenship for Balili stating that he is a model citizen in Turkey and has full grasp of the Turkish language. A somewhat religious man, rumors were started that a league match between

and

Ankaraspor Sincan Belediyesi Ankaraspor Kulübü, commonly known as Ankaraspor (), is a Turkish professional football club based in the country's capital Ankara. Founded in 1978, the club competes in the TFF Second League. The club was known as Osmanlıspor ...

, was postponed during the 2006–07 on account of it coinciding with

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur ( ; , ) is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, corresponding to a date in late September or early October. For traditional Jewish people, it is primarily centered on atonement and ...

. The

Turkish Football Federation The Turkish Football Federation (; TFF) is the governing body of association football in Turkey. It was formed on 23 April 1923, and joined FIFA the same year and UEFA in 1962. It organizes the Turkey national football team, the Turkish Foo ...

denied these claims. The story garnered some press coverage, namely because Israeli goalkeeper,

Dudu Aouate David "Dudu" Aouate (or Awat, , ''pronounced Dūdū Ahwaht''; born 17 October 1977) is an Israeli retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. After playing for several clubs in his country, most notably Maccabi Haifa, he moved t ...

claimed that he was willing to play on the Jewish day of atonement. On 12 August 2007, Balili was viciously tackled by

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

's Egyptian defensive midfielder, Ayman Abdelaziz. Allegedly, Ayman swore at Balili in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

before the tackle and it caused the Sivasspor players to fight with the Trabzonspor players. A spectator then jumped onto the pitch and threw punches. Sivasspor players responded which led to a big fight on the field. Trabzonspor got punished for this incident.

Return to Israel

On 16 June 2010, Balili signed a two-year contract with Bnei Yehuda reuniting with his former coach

. On 17 October 2012, he moved to play for Maccabi Ironi Bat Yam in

Liga Alef Liga Alef () is the third tier of the Israeli football league system. It is divided into two regional divisions, north and south. History League football began in Israel in 1949–50, a year after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. Howe ...

, there he played for two seasons until he retired from playing at the end of the 2013–14 season.

Managerial career

On 10 December 2012, Balili took over as the caretaker manager of Maccabi Ironi Bat Yam while still playing for them. The next season Balili worked as the assistant manager of Bat Yam until the club folded at the end of the 2013–14 season. In the 2014–15 season, Balili worked as the manager of Maccabi Holon in the

Ligat Nashim Ligat Nashim (, lit. ''Women's League'') is the Israeli Women's association football, women's football league. It has been run by the Israel Football Association since 1998. Format The league is divided into two divisions, with the top divisio ...

. On 30 July 2015, Balili was appointed as the general manager of

F.C. Shikun HaMizrah F.C. Shikun HaMizrah (), ''Moadon Sport Shikun HaMizrah'', lit. ''Shikun HaMizrah Sport Club'' (or in short ''Mem Samekh Shikun HaMizrah'', lit. ''F.C. Shikun HaMizrah'') is an Israeli Association football, football club which representing Risho ...

Honours

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

: 1999–00 *

Israel State Cup The Israel State Cup (, ''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 involves clubs of all standards ...

(2): 1999, 2000 *

Toto Cup The Israel Toto Cup (, ''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, Ligat Ha'Al; and the Israeli 2nd division Liga Leumit. Both of the ...

(1): 2001–02 *

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

runner-up: 2008–09

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balili, Pini Living people 1979 births Jewish Israeli sportspeople Israeli men's footballers Footballers from Bat Yam Israel men's international footballers Shimshon Tel Aviv F.C. players Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C. players İstanbulspor footballers Kayserispor footballers Sivasspor footballers Antalyaspor footballers Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv F.C. players Maccabi Ironi Bat Yam F.C. players Liga Leumit players Israeli Premier League players Süper Lig players Israeli people of Turkish-Jewish descent Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Israeli expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Hapoel Ashdod F.C. managers Men's association football forwards