Following a report from the Palestinian side, the Israeli Football Association was fined by FIFA for racial discrimination and discrimination violations.
Published March 24, 2026
The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) on Tuesday called on the Israeli Football Association (IFA) to impose a suspension after a FIFA report found “multiple violations” of anti-discrimination obligations.
“We will maintain our rights and continue to work to ensure that the Israeli Football Association is expelled from all international organizations,” PFA president Djibril Rajoub, who is also president of the Palestinian Olympic Committee, said at a news conference in the occupied West Bank city of El Bileh.
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Last week, FIFA fined IFA 150,000 Swiss francs (approximately $190,700) for the breach, which Rajoub said was a “significant decision” and that the fine still “doesn’t reach the required minimum.”
Rajoub cited the IFA’s “racist nature”, alleged criminal conduct by some Israeli sports officials, and the inclusion of soccer clubs from Israeli West Bank settlements in the Israeli federation as grounds for the ban.
A recent report by world football’s governing body’s disciplinary committee found that IFA had “taken no meaningful action against Beitar Jerusalem” for “persistent and well-documented racist behavior”.
Rajoub, who is also secretary-general of the central committee of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, said on Tuesday that Beitar Jerusalem was an “extreme example of racism, fascism and discrimination” but that such attitudes were common in Israeli soccer clubs.
Regarding allegations of criminal behavior by Israeli sports officials, Rajoub said he was referring to the deaths of athletes during Israel’s two-year genocidal war in Gaza and the destruction of many sports facilities in the Palestinian territories during the war.
“Some Israeli sports officials have participated in or openly supported what is happening,” Rajoub said, noting that 1,007 athletes and coaches have been killed and 265 sports facilities damaged in Gaza since the war began in October 2023.
Media restrictions and access restrictions in the Gaza Strip prevent AFP from independently verifying casualty numbers or reporting freely on the fighting.
At least five football clubs based in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are members of the Israel Football Association.
Following a separate investigation, FIFA has announced that it will not take any action against IFA over allegations that Israeli clubs based in the occupied West Bank are participating in Israeli leagues.
The United Nations has repeatedly condemned Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, as illegal under international law.
Israel is a member of UEFA, the European football governing body.
