FIFA again defers decision on Palestinian request to suspend Israel from world soccer

World body says it will instead launch a disciplinary investigation of possible discrimination alleged by Palestinian soccer officials.

The Israeli team poses prior to the Group D soccer match between Israel and Japan, at the La Beaujoire stadium, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, July 30, 2024, in Nantes, France. (AP Photo/Jeremias Gonzalez)
The Israeli team poses prior to the Group D soccer match between Israel and Japan, at the La Beaujoire stadium, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, July 30, 2024, in Nantes, France. (AP Photo/Jeremias Gonzalez)

ZURICH  — FIFA stopped short of suspending the Israeli soccer federation on Thursday, but asked for a disciplinary investigation of possible discrimination alleged by Palestinian soccer officials.

A senior FIFA panel overseeing governance will separately investigate “the participation in Israeli competitions of Israeli football teams allegedly based in the territory of Palestine,” soccer’s governing body said after a meeting of its ruling Council.

The Palestinian soccer federation has consistently asked FIFA for more than a decade to take action against the Israeli soccer body for incorporating teams from West Bank settlements in its leagues.

The Palestinians have also recently accused the Israel Football Association of what it said was complicity in violations of international law by the Israeli government, discrimination against Arab players.

The IFA has denied the charges.

The compromise decisions came more than four months after Palestinian officials had urged FIFA to suspend Israel’s membership at a meeting in May.

The request to FIFA’s congress in May also cited “international law violations” in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas conflict and directed the soccer body to its statutory commitments on human rights and against discrimination.

The PFA has said dozens of Palestinian players have been killed in the war, football infrastructure has been destroyed, its leagues suspended and its national team required to play World Cup qualifiers abroad. Israel has also been playing international fixtures abroad.

Fans pose for photos as they wait the start of a World Cup Qualifier between the Palestinian soccer team and Jordan at Cheras Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Vivian Lo)

In its proposal, the PFA wanted FIFA to adopt “appropriate sanctions” against Israeli teams, including the national side and clubs.

The war was sparked by the devastating attack by Hamas on October 7 in which some 1,200 were killed and 251 taken hostage.

FIFA delayed making a decision in May until after a legal review scheduled for July, then pushed back the issue two more times until the meeting Thursday.

“The FIFA Council has implemented due diligence on this very sensitive matter and, based on a thorough assessment, we have followed the advice of the independent experts,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement.

“The ongoing violence in the region confirms that, above all considerations… we need peace.

“As we remain extremely shocked by what is happening, and our thoughts are with those who are suffering, we urge all parties to restore peace to the region with immediate effect,” he said.

The latest process follows a pattern — under Infantino and his predecessor Sepp Blatter — of Palestinian requests for FIFA to uphold its legal statutes and the question then being steered toward ad hoc panels and other committees.

FIFA gave no timetable Thursday for the investigations it has not requested.

 

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