FIFA defers decision on appeal to ban Israel from football amid war on Gaza

FIFA says its disciplinary committee will ‘review the allegations of discrimination’ raised by Palestine in May.

FIFA has once again postponed a decision on the Palestinian call to ban Israel from football amid its ongoing war on Gaza.

Following a meeting at its headquarters in Zurich on Thursday, the Federation Internationale de Football Association – FIFA, football’s world governing body – said its disciplinary committee will review the allegations of discrimination that have been raised by the Palestinian Football Association (PFA).

“The FIFA Disciplinary Committee will be mandated to initiate an investigation into the alleged offence of discrimination raised by the Palestine Football Association,” FIFA said in a statement.

“The FIFA Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee will be entrusted with the mission to investigate – and subsequently advise the FIFA Council on – the participation in Israeli competitions of Israeli football teams allegedly based in the territory of Palestine.”

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said the council had implemented “due diligence” on the matter and followed the advice of independent experts.

In May, the PFA presented arguments accusing the Israel Football Association (IFA) of violating FIFA statutes with its war on Gaza and its inclusion of teams located in illegal settlements on Palestinian territory in its domestic league.

The PFA wanted FIFA to adopt “appropriate sanctions” against Israel’s national side and club teams, including an international ban.

The IFA termed the request a “cynical political move”.

FIFA had passed the issue to independent legal advisers who carried out an evaluation and compiled a response.

This is not the first time that FIFA has deferred a ruling. It had promised to address the issue at an extraordinary meeting of its council in July, but deferred the decision until its last council on August 31. It then moved its decision to its October meeting.

Katarina Pijetlovic, head of the PFA’s legal department, termed FIFA’s decision “purely political”.

“FIFA allowed Israel FA to continue using the Palestinian territory [occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem] as their own territory, and to use football under its umbrella as an instrument of colonial expansion,” she wrote in a post on X.

“Will we wait two yrs again, as in 2015-17, for the committee to suggest the obvious and then have their suggestion rejected again?”

FIFA allowed Israel FA to continue using the Palestinian territory (West Bank & East J.) as their own territory, and to use football under its umbrella as an instrument of colonial expansion. FIFA contributes to human rights abuses & facilitates illegal occupation and colonialism https://t.co/ul4VbbakF5 pic.twitter.com/ESCyYdBGqp

— Kat (@katpijetlovic) October 3, 2024

Israeli attacks across Gaza since last October have killed more than 41,700 people and wounded over 96,000, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.

The war has also left its impact on football, the most popular sport in Palestine.

As of August, at least 410 athletes, sports officials or coaches had been killed in the war, according to the PFA. Of these, 297 were footballers, including 84 children.

The war has also forced the Palestinian men’s football team to play its matches away from home.

“The people of Palestine know this team acts as a form of resistance and is conveying a message to the world,” Gaza-based football writer Abubaker Abed told Al Jazeera.

“Football is a stage from where a message can reach millions,” he said, adding that the Palestinians feel let down by the world as Israel continues to destroy sports facilities in the Gaza Strip.

“More than 50 sports facilities have been reduced to rubble in Gaza, including nine out of 10 of Gaza’s stadiums,” said Abed. “Almost every club has been destroyed in this war, while one stadium in Deir el-Balah has been turned into a shelter for thousands of displaced people.”