Meanwhile, visa issues are affecting Palestinian and other delegations attending the upcoming FIFA General Assembly.
Published April 29, 2026
The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against FIFA’s decision not to sanction Israel over clubs based in occupied West Bank settlements, a senior PFA official said, as visa issues affecting several delegations heightened tensions ahead of the FIFA General Assembly.
The PFA has long maintained that clubs based in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are illegal under international law, should not participate in leagues run by the Israel Football Association (IFA).
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FIFA announced last month that it would not take any action against IFA or Israeli clubs due to the unresolved legal status of the occupied West Bank under public international law.
“We’ve exhausted all possible legal venues in FIFA, so we’re still going to play by the rules and go by the book, and we’re going to appeal that decision because we think it’s very unfair,” PFA vice-president Susan Shalabi said after the Asian Football Confederation General Assembly was held in Vancouver on Tuesday, two days before the FIFA general meeting.
“After 15 years of deliberation on this issue, the (FIFA) Council has decided not to make a decision. Therefore, the only action we can take is to go to CAS and appeal it. We intend to work through the entire process until we achieve justice.”
She later told Reuters the appeal was filed on April 20.
CAS has not yet announced an appeal and could not be reached for comment after business hours Tuesday. There was no comment from FIFA either. Reuters also contacted IFA.
Shalabi said several PFA representatives were also unable to enter Canada to attend Thursday’s FIFA General Assembly due to visa issues.
She said she immediately received an electronic travel authorization because she applied with a foreign passport, but other members of the delegation, including PFA president, general secretary and legal advisor Gonzalo Boi, did not initially receive visas.
She said the visas were only issued after pressure at “political, societal and media levels” and action from community members and activists, adding that the PFA president had not received a visa in time to travel with the rest of the delegation, but was scheduled to arrive late.
However, she said Boyer has not yet received her visa and does not plan to attend.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada told Reuters it would look into the matter.
Shalabi said he understands that visa issues are not limited to Palestine and that Iran’s football association, whose representatives are not attending the AFC general meeting, is also facing problems.
“As you can see, this is a big event. It’s good for Canada that the World Cup is on and everyone from all over the world can participate,” Shalabi said.
She further stated that the situation for soccer in Palestine remains dire, especially in Gaza, where all soccer facilities are either unusable or destroyed.
“We lost hundreds of soccer players, most of them children,” she said. “So now there is no football in Gaza.
“It is very dangerous for our teams to compete,” she added, noting that professional leagues have been suspended and the PFA is trying to keep football alive through grassroots and youth competitions.
