GENEVA – Calls for action against Israel in international football over its conflict with Hamas will be intensified by Palestinian authorities at FIFA’s annual congress next month.
The Palestinian Football Association’s proposal to the 211 member federations in Thailand calls for “appropriate sanctions, with immediate effect, against Israeli teams”, according to FIFA documents released on Wednesday, a month before the May 17 meeting.
The motion highlights “violations of international law committed by the Israeli occupation of Palestine, particularly in Gaza” and cites FIFA’s statutory commitments on human rights and against discrimination.
“All infrastructure in Gaza has been destroyed or seriously damaged, including the historic Al-Yarmuk stadium,” the Palestinian Federation wrote, claiming support for the congress motion from the federations of Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Yemen.
The latest call to punish Israeli football will not be supported by FIFA and is unlikely to progress because Israel can expect global support, including from UEFA, the 55-member European football body it joined 30 years ago. A cooperation agreement was also signed last week between Israeli authorities and South American football entity CONMEBOL.
Palestinian football cites the example of the Russian teams that were banned from international competitions by FIFA and UEFA during the military invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022.
Russia’s exclusion was supported by FIFA because several UEFA members refused to play games against Russian opponents. They included all three men’s teams – Poland, Sweden, Czech Republic – who were in the March 2022 qualifying playoff bracket for that year’s men’s World Cup. Russia did not play and Poland advanced to the tournament in Qatar.
Russian authorities continue to participate in international football meetings, including the UEFA executive committee, and are expected to have a delegation with FIFA in Bangkok next month.
Israeli national teams and clubs have continued to play in UEFA competitions since the Hamas attacks on 7 October, although home games have been played at neutral venues Hungary and Cyprus for security reasons.
At the opening of the Paris Olympic Games in July, Israel will compete in the men’s football tournament and participated in the draw for the tournament last month. Israel was drawn into a group to face Mali, which is a Muslim-majority nation, Paraguay and a yet-to-be-decided Asian team.
The Palestinian Federation said in its proposal to FIFA: “There is a good chance that some federations will refuse to play against Israel.”
Last year, Indonesia was prevented by FIFA from hosting the men’s U20 World Cup because it refused to host games from Israel, which qualified several months earlier. The tournament moved to Argentina and Israel reached the semi-finals. Within weeks, FIFA compensated Indonesia with hosting rights for the men’s U-17 World Cup, held late last year.
The football dispute between Palestinians and Israelis was repeatedly placed on FIFA’s agenda between 2013 and 2017, including at congresses, without significant progress being made.
Palestinian football leader Jibril Rajoub urged FIFA at the 2015 and 2017 congress to sanction Israel for incorporating into its national leagues teams that played games in disputed territory in the West Bank.
The latest proposal again cites Israel’s “violation of the FIFA Statutes in its continued inclusion of football teams located in the territory of another association (Palestine) in its national league”.
FIFA, under the command of President Gianni Infantino and his predecessor, Joseph Blatter, did not hold Israeli football responsible for the actions of the national government, including the security policy that limited the travel of Palestinian players.
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