FIFA makes legal assessment of Israel’s suspension

FIFA will conduct a legal review before deciding whether to grant the Palestinian request to suspend the Israeli FA because of the Gaza war.

The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) called for a vote on Israel’s exclusion at the FIFA Congress in Bangkok on Friday and was supported by the Jordanian Football Association.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said the matter was one on which the FIFA Council would have to take a decision following a legal review.

“How much more must the Palestinian football family suffer for FIFA to act with the same rigor and urgency as in other cases?” asked PFA President Jibril Rajoub.

“Does FIFA believe that some wars are more important than others and that some victims are more significant?

“I ask you to be on the right side of history. The suffering of millions, including thousands of footballers, deserves this. If not now, when? Mr President, the ball is in your court.”

The war in Gaza began after a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 that killed about 1,200 people and took more than 252 others hostage.

More than 34,000 people have since been killed by the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run health ministry said.

Shino Moshe Zuares, president of the Israel Football Association, said: “We are faced with a cynical political and hostile attempt by the Palestinian association to harm Israeli football.

“Seven months after that terrible day, when football matches cannot be played in large parts of Israel, both north and south, and more than 130 Israelis are still being held in Gaza, it is unfair that even under these circumstances we have to fight for our basic right to take part in the game.”

Infantino said a legal assessment of the PFA’s allegations would be undertaken urgently and that the FIFA Council would convene an extraordinary congress at the end of July to address the matter.

“Football must never become a hostage to politics and must always remain a vector of peace, a source of hope, a force for good that unites people rather than dividing them,” said Infantino.

“This legal review must take into account the submissions and claims of both member associations. The results of this analysis and the resulting recommendations will then be forwarded to the FIFA Council.”