BY JACOB GURVIS AUGUST 28, 2024 12:13 PM

Palestinian Football Association President Jibril Rajoub speaks during the 74th FIFA Congress, May 17, 2024, in
Bangkok. (Manan Vatsyayana/AFP via Getty Images)

Just one month after Israel’s national soccer team returned to the Olympics for the first time in nearly 50 years, the
country is facing a potential ban from international competition in the world’s most popular sport. FIFA, the global
soccer governing body, is considering a request by the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) to temporarily bar the
Israel Football Association (IFA) from future tournaments. The reason, as in Palestinian appeals to other
international bodies, is the war in Gaza: Palestinian officials allege that Israel is committing violations of both
international law and running afoul of FIFA’s human rights policies.
The PFA submitted its official proposal in March, and a decision is expected by Saturday. FIFA has postponed the
ruling multiple times, including days before the Olympics — a tournament in which the Palestinians also challenged
Israel’s participation. FIFA sought independent legal review and solicited input from both the Israeli and Palestinian
soccer federations. Israel has denied the accusations in the PFA’s claim, which IFA chief Moshe Zuares called a
“cynical, political and hostile attempt by the Palestinian Association to harm Israeli football.”
Zuares said during remarks at FIFA’s annual congress in Bangkok in May, “Make no mistake, the IFA never
violated rules set by FIFA and UEFA and will never do so in the future.”
A ban would have an immediate effect on Israel’s national team, which is set to compete in the upcoming Nations
League tournament organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the European division of
FIFA, of which Israel is a member. Israel is currently scheduled to face Belgium Sept. 6 in a game that has already
been mired in controversy, as Belgium refused to host the match, citing security concerns. The game will instead be
played in Debrecen, Hungary.
Depending on the duration of a possible ban, Israel could also be excluded from the qualifying tournament for the
2026 FIFA World Cup, which begins in March, and from other future European and global tournaments. Last
summer, Israel finished third at the 2023 Under-20 World Cup and reached the semifinal in the UEFA European U-
21 Championship.

Demonstrators gathered outside the South African Football Association building to demand that FIFA suspend
Israel’s membership, March 16, 2024, in Johannesburg. (Ihsaan Haffejee/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Israel has belonged to UEFA since 1994, joining the European conference 20 years after it was kicked out of the
Asian Football Confederation in a push spearheaded by its Arab neighbors. The Asian conference — along with
soccer federations from Algeria, Jordan, Syria and Yemen — have all thrown their support behind the PFA’s effort
to oust Israel.
“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, according to Reuters.
Rajoub also said in May that 193 Palestinian soccer players had been killed in the Israel-Hamas war and pointed to
other disruptions to Palestinian soccer as a result of the ongoing conflict. In addition, Max du Plessis, an attorney
who represented South Africa in its case accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Jucistice, co-wrote
a legal analysis in support of a ban. The analysis argued, “Israel’s conduct demands censure, in line with the position
adopted by FIFA in relation to similar egregious violations of its objectives and internationally recognised human
rights.”
FIFA has a history of banning countries from competition for both geopolitical reasons and over interference or
misconduct related specifically to soccer governance. Most notably, FIFA banned Russia from international
competition just days after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and South Africa was banned for more than 20 years over
its apartheid policies. The PFA had also called for a vote to ban Israel from FIFA in 2015 over alleged
discrimination against Palestinian players, but it ultimately dropped the bid.
“Like everyone, I was extremely, extremely shocked by what happened on Oct. 7 in Israel,” FIFA President Gianni
Infantino said at the group’s convening in May. “And like anyone else, I was extremely, extremely shocked, and am
extremely shocked at what’s happening in Gaza.” Infantino added, “I pray for all those people who suffer the
unimaginable … and I want, like all of you, just one thing: peace.”