Amnesty International urges FIFA and UEFA to suspend Israel from international football

LONDON: Amnesty International urged FIFA and the Union of European Football Associations to suspend the Israeli Football Association until the latter excludes settlers’ clubs in the occupied West Bank from competing in the Israeli leagues.

Agnes Callamard, the secretary-general of Amnesty International, called on Wednesday for the suspension of the IFA as Israeli forces “continue to perpetrate genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip” since late 2023.

The Israeli national team is currently competing in the European qualifiers against Norway and Italy for the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in Canada, Mexico, and the US next summer. Additionally, the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv is participating in the Europa League.

UN officials and figures from the football world have increased pressure in September on FIFA and UEFA to suspend Israel from international football tournaments, describing it “as a necessary response to address the ongoing genocide in the occupied Palestinian territory.”

This week, UEFA has postponed a vote on banning Israel from European football following US President Donald Trump’s plan to address the ongoing war in Gaza.

“Over 800 athletes, players and sports officials are among the more than 65,000 people Israeli forces have killed in a deliberate campaign of wholesale devastation, forced displacement and starvation of civilians (in Gaza),” Callamard wrote in a letter addressed to Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, and Aleksander Ceferin, the president of UEFA.

Amnesty International said that there are six football clubs based in settlements in the West Bank that play in the Israeli leagues. These include two clubs in Ariel settlement, Beitar Givat Zeev Shabi, Beitar Maaleh