Avi Cohen, chairman of the Israel Professional Footballers Association, has been seriously injured in a road accident.

Cohen, 54, was riding a motorbike which was involved in a collision with a car near the Ramat Gan Diamond Exchange. The former Liverpool defender was rushed to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital where he was immediately taken into surgery.

Cohen’s son Tamir, who plays for Bolton, has been given leave to return to Israel immediately.

Avi Cohen, 54, became the first Israeli to play in England when he joined Liverpool from Maccabi Tel Aviv in 1979. He returned to Maccabi in 1981 before returning to the UK for a spell with Glasgow Rangers in 1989.