FIFA to make decision on Israeli suspension by July

admin admin | 05-17 16:15

The FIFA Council is set to make a decision no later than 20 July on whether to agree to Palestine's call to suspend the Israeli federation.

The Palestinian federation (PFA) first proposed the sanctioning and suspension of the Israeli association back in April, on the grounds of human

rights and humanitarian law violations committed in the Gaza Strip.

The war began with a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7 in which Palestinian militants killed around 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war which followed, without distinguishing between civilians and combatants in its count.

The PFA called for a vote to exclude Israel at FIFA Congress, which was supported in the room by the Jordanian FA.

However, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said it was a matter for the FIFA Council to make a decision on, once it had sought an independent legal assessment.

"Football should not and should never become a hostage for politics and always remain a vector for peace, a source of hope, a force of good, uniting people rather than dividing," Infantino said.

"All three of these proposals (from the PFA) fall under the competence of the FIFA Council and need therefore to be treated by this body.

"Now, due to the obvious sensitivity of these matters, FIFA will mandate, as of now, independent legal expertise to analyse and assess the three requests and ensure that the statutes and regulations of FIFA are applied in the correct way in order to ensure a fair and due process.

"This legal assessment will have to allow for inputs and claims of both member associations. The results of this analysis and the recommendations which will follow from this analysis will subsequently be forwarded to the FIFA Council.

"Due to the urgency of the situation, an extraordinary FIFA Council will be convened and take place before the 20th of July this year, to review the results of the legal assessment and to take the decisions that are appropriate. I trust that you, the Congress, can support proceeding this way."

Speaking before Infantino concluded the debate, Palestinian FA president Jibril Rajoub said: "How much more must the Palestine football family suffer for FIFA to act with the same severity and urgency as it did in other cases?

"Does FIFA consider some wars to be more important than others and some victims to be more significant?"

"I ask you to stand on the right side of history. The suffering of millions, including thousands of footballers, deserves as much. If not now, then when? Mr President, the ball is in your court."

His Israeli counterpart, Moshe Zuares, said since 7 October, Israeli lives "had become hell".

"Seven months after the terrible day, when football matches cannot be played in large parts of Israel, north and south, and over 130 Israelis are still being held in Gaza, it is injustice that even in these circumstances we find ourselves fighting for our basic right to be part of the game.

"We are facing a cynical political and hostile attempt by the Palestinian association to harm Israeli football.

"Nothing will make me more proud than to lead, sometime in the future when the atmosphere is right, an Israeli team (in) a friendly match against the Palestinians. This will certainly contribute to a better future for both peoples. My hand is always outreached, even if the other remains clenched."

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