Current:Home > InvestFIFA orders legal review of Palestinian call to suspend Israel from competitions -Streamline Finance
FIFA orders legal review of Palestinian call to suspend Israel from competitions
View
Date:2025-04-18 17:21:36
Soccer's world body FIFA ordered an urgent legal evaluation on Friday of a proposal by the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) to suspend Israel over the war in Gaza, promising to address it at an extraordinary meeting of its council in July.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino took the decision at an annual Congress in Bangkok, where the PFA president made an emotional plea to delegates to hold a vote to suspend Israel from all club and national competitions, accusing it of multiple breaches of FIFA statutes.
The Palestinian proposal accuses the Israel Football Association (IFA) of complicity in violations of international law by the Israeli government, discrimination against Arab players, and inclusion in its league of clubs located in Palestinian territory. The IFA rejected that.
The request for sanctions against the IFA comes two years after FIFA's decision to suspend Russia from international competitions over its invasion of Ukraine.
"FIFA cannot afford to remain indifferent to these violations or to the ongoing genocide in Palestine, just as it did not remain indifferent to numerous precedents," PFA President Jibril Rajoub said.
"How much more must the Palestinian football family suffer for FIFA to act with the same urgency and severity as it did in other cases? Does FIFA consider some wars to be more important than others and some victims to be more significant?"
Rajoub said 193 Palestinian players had been killed, football infrastructure destroyed, its leagues suspended and its national team required to play World Cup qualifiers abroad.
The proposal was sent to FIFA in March and added to the Congress agenda with the support of the Algerian, Jordanian, Syrian and Yemeni federations.
The Asian Football Confederation gave its backing on Thursday for action against Israel.
IFA chief Shino Moshe Zuares said the proposal was based on motives and ambitions that "have nothing to do with the spirit of sports or the FIFA value of separating sports from politics".
"Today, maybe more than ever, I believe that football must be a key element in healing the fractures and the wounds, helping us and everyone to recover," he told the Congress.
"Yet, once again, we are facing a cynical, political, and hostile attempt by the PFA to harm Israeli football.
"I am holding myself back and will not speak about the true motives out of respect for this institution," he said.
Infantino said due to the "obvious sensitivity of the issue", independent legal experts would be brought in urgently to analyze the Palestinian allegations.
Those findings would be referred to the FIFA Council, its main decision-making body outside of the Congress, to convene an extraordinary meeting in July and take appropriate decisions, he said.
veryGood! (38)
Related
- FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup
- Jennifer Stone Details Messy High School Nonsense Between Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus Over Nick Jonas
- NYC Mayor signs emergency order suspending parts of law limiting solitary confinement
- Beacon may need an agent, but you won't see the therapy dog with US gymnasts in Paris
- Blake Lively’s Inner Circle Shares Rare Insight on Her Life as a Mom to 4 Kids
- Paris Olympics organizers say they meant no disrespect with ‘Last Supper’ tableau
- All the best Comic-Con highlights, from Robert Downey Jr.'s Marvel return to 'The Boys'
- National Chicken Wing Day deals: Get free wings at Wingstop, Buffalo Wild Wings, more
- Brianna LaPaglia Reveals The Meaning Behind Her "Chickenfry" Nickname
- Storms bring flash flooding to Dollywood amusement park in Tennessee
Ranking
- 51-year-old Andy Macdonald puts on Tony Hawk-approved Olympic skateboard showing
- All the Athletes Who Made History During the 2024 Paris Olympics
- Hawaii man killed self after police took DNA sample in Virginia woman’s 1991 killing, lawyers say
- What's in the box Olympic medal winners get? What else medalists get for winning
- IOC's decision to separate speed climbing from other disciplines paying off
- USWNT dominates in second Paris Olympics match: Highlights from USA's win over Germany
- NYC Mayor signs emergency order suspending parts of law limiting solitary confinement
- USDA moves to limit salmonella in raw poultry products
Recommendation
51-year-old Andy Macdonald puts on Tony Hawk-approved Olympic skateboard showing
In New York, a ballot referendum meant to protect abortion may not use the word ‘abortion’
MLB power rankings: Top-ranked teams flop into baseball's trade deadline
Harvey Weinstein contracts COVID-19, double pneumonia following hospitalization
What to watch: O Jolie night
Porsche, MINI rate high in JD Power satisfaction survey, non-Tesla EV owners happier
How Brazil's Rebeca Andrade, world's other gymnasts match up with Simone Biles at Olympics
Bachelor Nation’s Victoria Fuller Dating NFL Star Will Levis After Greg Grippo Breakup