‘Filling a moral vacuum’: Ashish Prashar leads global campaign to eject Israel from football

DUBAI: On Sept. 17, New Yorkers and tourists in Times Square were greeted by a billboard that said: “Israel is committing genocide. No genocide on the pitch.”

It was the opening gambit of #GameOverIsrael, a campaign launched by human rights activist Ashish Prashar aimed at getting FIFA and UEFA to ban Israel from football, both at club and international level.

The campaign went viral, and has continued to do so in the ensuing weeks. It was certainly noticed by those at the receiving end.

The billboard “was pulled down after three days” due to pressure from the Israeli prime minister’s office, Prashar told Arab News. “That’s how important it is to them. If we knock them out of football, they’re done culturally.”

Since then, billboards have appeared in major cities worldwide. On Oct. 11, a billboard targeting UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin was unveiled in Milan, saying: “President Ceferin, Israel is committing genocide. Suspend Israel now. It’s your moral obligation.”

From Times Square to MILAN, football fans have had ENOUGH!Stop allowing football to sports-wash genocide. The world sees through it and we’re demanding a full Israeli boycott across football. The Federations can’t hide anymore. Suspend Israel.#GameOverIsrael @UEFA pic.twitter.com/pbQSmn1pia

— gameoverisrael (@gameover_israel) October 11, 2025

To explain the campaign’s impact, Prashar looks back to the days preceding its launch. “I always go back to what was going on in the world on Sept. 15. At scale, nobody in the mainstream media globally, especially in the West, was really talking about Israel, genocide and football, not together.”

The campaign aimed to “fill that moral vacuum,” he said, adding that it has changed the conversation primarily by